Attacks on journalists rose in 2012, group finds

A leading press advocacy group reported an alarming rise in the number of journalists killed and imprisoned around the world in 2012, attributing the trend to repressive laws, government intolerance of dissent and outright impunity for the killers that are endangering independent reporting in many countries.

A leading press advocacy group reported an alarming rise in the number of journalists killed and imprisoned around the world in 2012, attributing the trend to repressive laws, government intolerance of dissent and outright impunity for the killers that are endangering independent reporting in many countries.

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In its annual ‘Attacks on the Press’ survey, the group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, said 70 journalists had been killed while doing their jobs in 2012, which is a 43% increase over the year earlier, and that more than 35 journalists had disappeared.

The group said that in 2012 it had identified 232 journalists who had been imprisoned, 53 more than a year earlier and the highest number since the survey began in 1990.

“It’s a sad year for press freedom,” Robert Mahoney, the group’s deputy director, said at a news conference held at the United Nations.

“From Mexico to Syria, Russia to Pakistan, journalists on the front lines are confronting violence and repression as never before. There is no greater threat to journalists than impunity,” he said. New York Times