A journalist killed every 10 days
While it’s popular to revile the media the public has only a weak perception of the danger that journalists put themselves in just by reporting the news, let alone going right to the danger zones to report the facts first hand.
Other journalists are not as fortunate to escape death. They die, often in obscurity, just doing their jobs. Once every 10 days last year, a journalist somewhere was killed. This year, the numbers are on pace to be higher.
Since 1992, 861 journalists have lost their lives, and not, as might be expected, mostly in war zones. More than 70% were murdered as they covered everyday politics, crime or corruption in their native lands. During the past two decades, the most dangerous places for a journalist to work were Iraq, the Philippines, Algeria, Russia and Colombia, where the truth can get you killed or imprisoned.
On Tuesday, the United Nations marked their sacrifice with World Press Freedom Day, which celebrates the importance of a free press in a world where information is often controlled by those in power. But it should be remembered every time you see or read a dispatch from reporters like Logan.