Journalist Deaths at All Time High - 2009

And the comments .... Are Murder!

h/t to SDA .

From Reuters,

The press freedom group said the 2009 tally compared to 42 deaths in 2008 and surpassed the previous record of 67 deaths in 2007 -- when violence was at its worst in Iraq, which had been the deadliest country for journalists for six years.

This year Iraq dropped to No. 3 on the list of deadliest countries with four journalist deaths, the lowest annual tally recorded since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.

The Philippines topped the list with 32 deaths -- 31 of which happened during a massacre in the South of the country in November. Somalia, which western security agencies say has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign extremists, came in second with nine media deaths.

"This has been a year of unprecedented devastation for the world's media, but the violence also confirms long-term trends," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "Most victims were local reporters covering news in their own communities.

"The perpetrators assumed, based on precedent, that they would never be punished. Whether the killings are in Iraq or the Philippines, in Russia or Mexico, changing this assumption is the key to reducing the death toll," he said.

All but two of the 2009 victims were local journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Sad .... it is true that many of these victims are nothing more than local stringers who feed local media organizations and sell their stuff to the likes of Reuters and AP who then proceed to use it as propagda in their efforts to daemonize our Western democracies.

But as we have witnessed across the world over the last ten years in particular ... many of these local stringers are activist propagandists in their own right who make up stories and fake reports including staged photos, falsely attributed photos and some of the most absurd efforts to "photo shop" images.

And you might note how the very piece that reports the death stats of the journos takes the opportunity to Blame America by connecting the 2007 Iraq stats to the "US Led Invasion"while making no mention of Who did the killng (Sadamites and foreign,non-Iraqi thugs). In case of the current Record Holder ... the Phillipines it is blithely tossed off with NO mention of who did the killing there. ( Islamist thugs)

So... in the first five or so paragraphs the Reuters writer and editors have managed to misrepresent two major factors that are germain to the situation.

The comments on the Reuters site are indicative of the effect this is having back here.

OMMAG