The perils of reporting have been highlighted in recent news:
- The most high profile case by far has been the two American reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling who were detained by North Korea along the border with China in March for engaging in “hostile acts”. They were finally released after Bill Clinton visited North Korea and secured their release. Since then, they have released a statement about their experience in captivity.
- The recent rescue of New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell from the Taliban has thrown up questions about the rescue priorities of international forces as his Afghan colleague Sultan Munadi died in the same rescue mission. Concerns were also raised about the risks that Farrell and his translator Munadi undertook by venturing into a Taliban-controlled zone without any military escort.
- At least 17 journalists have been murdered in Russia in the past decade. The one thing they had in common? They had “engaged in critical reporting that upset powerful interests – whether in government, business, law enforcement or organised crime”. CJP (Committee to Protect Journalists) has released a special report titled ‘Anatomy of Injustice – The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia’. Read it here.
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