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A truly dangerous profession

Yes, we know, journalists are often scorned and even actively disliked.    And, yes, there are many so-called journos in the media - notably those on TV on commercial stations - more than deserving of condemnation.

 But, there are all those other truly heroic journalists - and cameramen - who are out there bringing us news from all manner of places, war-zones and countries none of us would willingly tour.   Just think, at the moment, of the Ukraine, Syria, Pakistan and many places in Africa as but a few examples.  And who isn't interested in news, of whatever type, from somewhere?

 Today (3 May) marks World Press Freedom Day....

"At the beginning of every year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) publishes a report on the journalists killed in this previous year. In the latest we listed 105 journalists and news media personnel killed during 2013.

The first shocking thing about these reports is to learn just how many journalists are killed.

Sadly, this is not new. If we aggregate all the statistics, we found that no fewer than 1500 media workers have died since we started counting our dead.

This works out at about two people every week.

The second shocking thing is to learn just how many of those murdered are local beat reporters.

Their work isn’t the same as by-lined war correspondents, who knowingly risk their lives to tell a story, and face everything from being mistaken for combatants to walking on a landmine."



A journalist covers her mouth with a tape to show solidarity with four Al-Jazeera journalists detained by Egyptian authorities.

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