Journalists in Iraq killed, imprisoned

Journalists in Iraq continue to face threats of imminent death, imprisonment or kidnapping. Statistics show the Iraq War to be far more deadly for media workers than the Vietnam War or World War II.

Boston Globe reporter Farah Stockman summarizes statements made yesterday by Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Stockman writes [registration required]:

The Committee to Protect Journalists says 58 journalists and 22 media workers -- which includes support staff such as translators and drivers -- have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war in March 2003. An estimated 66 journalists were killed covering the Vietnam conflict over two decades, and an estimated 68 during World War II.

In Iraq, insurgents are believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 34 journalists, including five Iraqi reporters killed in the city of Mosul by unknown gunmen.

The circumstances of many deaths are unknown. But 13 deaths came at the hands of the US military, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which filed Freedom of Information Act petitions on the military investigations of the deaths.

Reporters Without Borders has counted at least 10 journalists killed by US forces.

Most of those killed were Iraqis, who are playing an increasing role for Western news outlets because of the security risks.

Stockman notes that five journalists are currently in US military custody. She cites the killing of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana as an example of the perils faced by Middle Eastern journalists in Iraq:

Several military investigations have found the soldiers' actions justified. For instance, in August 2003, US troops shot Mazen Dana, an award-winning Palestinian cameraman for the Reuters news agency, after he had received US permission to film outside Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. A military investigation said the soldier who shot him acted reasonably, noting that the soldier saw a man with "dark skin and dark hair" and mistook his camera for a grenade launcher.