Journalists face "unprecedented" amount of threats and attacks worldwide, The Guardian reports
The Index on Censorship conducted the study, which focused on European journalists, and found that 2016 is one of the most dangerous years on record for journalists. There were 406 verified reports of violence or threats in European Union member nations and in neighboring countries Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, in July, August and September alone.
According to Melody Patry, senior advocacy officer at Index, "The attacks are unprecedented in both scope and scale."
"Hostility to the media is increasing globally," Patry told the Guardian. "When the credibility and legitimacy of media outlets starts to be questioned it can easily spread and the sentiment easily becomes one of distrust."
The report verified four murders, 54 physical assaults, 107 arrests, 150 detentions and 112 instances of intimidation. Journalists were prevented from covering a story in 89 instances, and their work was altered or censored 29 times.
"With nine out of every 10 murders of journalists never solved, the vicious cycle of impunity still prevails. It has to be broken," Dunja Mijatović, who represents the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told the paper.
In Ukraine, journalist Pavel Sheremet of Ukrayinska Pravda was killed in a car explosion, and Alexander Shchetinin, founder of news agency Novy Region, was shot in his Kiev apartment.
In Russia, cameraman of state TV station Russia-1 Andrey Nazarenko was found dead in his Moscow apartment of two gunshot wounds. Photographer Mustafa Cambaz died in Turkey during the attempted coup against the country’s government.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors runs a network tracking threats to journalists around the world, with updates on missing or imprisoned journalists.
"Threats to the free practice of journalism are a denial of basic human rights and must not be supported by any government," the BBG website quotes director and CEO John Lansing as saying.
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