PFUJ study reveals startling stats

		PFUJ study reveals startling stats
	ISLAMABAD: Covering news has always been risky business and in the aftermath of the US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and following 9/11, as many as 2,187 media persons lost their lives because of their job. According to a study conducted by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) the killings took place between January 1, 2000 and September 30, 2010 in 106 countries. Among those killed were 14 female journalists. The study says that 66 media persons have already been killed worldwide this year, including 10 in Pakistan and six in Honduras. It was also found that journalists and critical news gathering support staff – translators, fixers, drivers and the like – have died covering stories during this period out of which many died on international battlefields or on assignment relating to natural disasters. Most fell in their home countries as they covered corruption, crime, unrest and other dangerous stories. The study reveals that Iraq, Pakistan, Philippines, Cambodia, Netherlands, Rwanda, India, Haiti, Afghanistan and Mexico were the top 10 countries where killing of media persons had was frequent. Iraq was at the top throughout the period (2000-2010) with 510 media persons killed followed by Pakistan where the number stood at 162. One of the most horrible incidents occurred in Maguindanao, Southern Philippines on November 22 in 2009 in which as many as 30 journalists were massacred. In that incident gunmen ambushed a caravan of political supporters and journalists on their way to filing election papers.