60 media workers killed so far this year:INSI report

London:A total of 60 media workers were killed in the first half of 2015, according to the latest report of International News Safety Institue (INSI), which looks at the number of journalists killed for simply doing their job, how they died and where they worked.

INSI report, Killing the Messenger, reveals that South Sudan and Yemen were the second bloodiest countries for journalists in the first half of 2015, with six members of the news media killed in each place, while Iraq and Libya are close behind in joint fourth place with five journalists losing their lives in each.

“This year is shaping up to be worse than last year for journalists’ deaths,” said INSI president Richard Sambrook.

“Again local journalists are under most threat – from investigating crime and corruption – and account for more than 90 per cent of those killed.”

Syria, which has topped the list for the past three years, saw a decline in the number of media killed – down from 11 in 2014 to two during the first six months of 2015. The country has become a no-go zone for most reporters since the high profile beheadings of Japanese and American freelancers, which is thought to be the main reason for the decline.

The report found that more than half of the journalists killed died during peacetime and their murderers enjoyed near total impunity. INSI identified only five cases in which suspects in the killing of journalists were identified or any arrests made.

“Impunity remains an overarching issue for the international community,” said Sambrook.

Source:INSI