2015 Was a Dangerous Year For Journalists
2015 was an extremely dangerous year for journalists . 69 media representatives lost their lives around the world. 28 of them were killed by Islamic terrorist groups close to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State . 8 journalists were killed in January, when the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was attacked in Paris.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that Syria was the most dangerous place for journalists to be in 2015. 13 reporters were killed in a state that has been suffering from civil war.Sudan, Bangladesh and Brazil are among other countries in which journalists were killed. Many of them were assigned to cover civil wars , corruption and human rights issues.
In addition, several journalists were kidnapped and are still being held captive. The most prominent is a Washington Post journalist who has been imprisoned in Iran for over one and a half years. At the end of 2015, 199 journalists were held in prison in 28 countries around the world, including China, Egypt and Turkey.
Media experts believe that criminals and militant organisations are becoming more and more hostile towards journalists. In the past vehicles that were marked with a PRESS sign got more protection and were not targeted. Although western countries protest strongly when something happens to journalists, there is often nothing they can do about it. Warring factions sometimes use captured journalists to get media attention.
Related Topics
- Newspapers and Magazines
- The World's Most Dangerous Countries
- Boko Haram - Islamic Terrorists in Nigeria
- Osama bin Laden - The World's Prime Terrorist Leader
- ISIS - Militant Jihadist Movement in the Middle East
- The Taliban – Former Militant Leaders of Afghanistan
Words
- although = while
- assign = to give someone a job
- attack = use violence to kill or hurt someone
- attention = interest
- captive = prisoner
- capture = catch a person and keep them as a prisoner
- civil war = war in which two groups of the same country fight against each other
- close to = here: friendly with
- corruption = to do things that are not honest or against the law, especially if you are a person in power or hold a high position
- cover = here: report about
- criminal = a person who has done something against the law
- extremely = very
- hostile = angry, unfriendly
- human rights = the basic rights that everyone should have
- imprison = put into prison, keep in a secret place
- in addition = also
- including = also
- issue = topic
- kidnap = to take someone to a place and keep them there until you get money for returning them
- mark = to have some writing on it
- media = organizations like newspapers, radio, television that report about things that happen and give information to the public
- militant = person or group that uses violence to make political changes
- prison = building or house that a person is kept in against their will
- prominent = famous
- protection = keeping someone safe
- satirical = criticizing something in a humorous way
- sign = here: object that gives you information
- suffer = here: to be in a bad condition
- target= to choose a group of people
- vehicle = machine with an engine that is used to transport people, like a car, truck or bus
- warring factions = groups that fight against each other