(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: CPJ PUBLISHES SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQI JOURNALISTS New York, May 17, 2004-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today published a report examining the dangers faced by local journalists covering the conflict in Iraq. The report, titled “Under Threat,” was written by Joel Campagna, CPJ’s senior program […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:
CPJ PUBLISHES SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQI JOURNALISTS
New York, May 17, 2004-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today published a report examining the dangers faced by local journalists covering the conflict in Iraq. The report, titled “Under Threat,” was written by Joel Campagna, CPJ’s senior program coordinator responsible for the Middle East and North Africa, and Middle East and North Africa Research Associate Hani Sabra.
Campagna and Sabra based the report on extensive interviews with Iraqi journalists, foreign correspondents, and editors. All note that Iraqi journalists have been playing a larger role in newsgathering as hostilities against foreign journalists have intensified there in recent months. These Iraqi members of the press frequently endure harassment, threats, or attacks at the hands of both coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents. As a result, a number of Iraqi staffers – mainly those working with international news organizations – have quit their work or now take great precautions not to be identified with their employers. A few have even fled the country.
On May 3, CPJ named Iraq one of the World’s Worst Places to be a Journalist. Twenty-seven journalists have been killed in action there since March 2003. In 2004 alone, 14 journalists have been killed in Iraq; 12 of them were Iraqi.
The full report is available on CPJ’s web site at http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/iraq_journ_5_04/iraq_journ_5_04.html
