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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Fewer Journalists Killed During 2016

Deaths of journalists in the line of duty fell sharply in 2016 compared with the year before, a news media advocacy group said Monday, attributing the decline to fewer intentional killings of journalists.

According to The NYTimes, the group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the number killed unintentionally in combat while covering wars remained high and accounted for a majority of overall deaths for the first time since the group began its annual tally in 1992.

At least 48 journalists were killed in relation to their work, compared with 72 in 2015, the group said in an annual report.

The group suggested that the final figures for 2016 could change, because it was still investigating the deaths of 27 journalists to determine if they were work-related.

“It is undeniably good news that fewer journalists are being murdered, and the decline shows the critical importance of the fight to end impunity,” Joel Simon, the executive director of the group, said in releasing the 2016 report.

However, he said, “Journalists covering war continue to be killed at an extraordinarily high rate, a reflection of the brutality and unpredictability of modern conflict.”

More than half the journalists killed this year died in combat or crossfire, making war coverage the deadliest assignment, the group said.

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