How to stop the slaughter of journalists.
The week's news at a glance.
United Kingdom
Harold Evans
The Observer
“The price of truth has gone up grievously,” said Harold Evans, editor-at-large at The Week, in the London Observer. All over the world, reporters and media staffers are being murdered at a rate of two a week: 1,000 of them have died in the past decade. These people—editors, reporters, translators, fixers, drivers, support staff—were targeted for assassination because of their work. They may have been covering government corruption, or criminal gangs, or shady business dealings. Most of the killings are seen as local crimes, unworthy of international attention. Only when a high-profile reporter such as Russia’s Anna Politkovskaya or America’s Daniel Pearl is killed does the world muster a temporary outrage. We can change this travesty. Governments and pressure groups can start holding the states that fail to prosecute the killers “responsible for their negligence and, in many cases, complicity.” And the press can remind the public why press freedom is vital to democracy, by vigorously pursuing objectivity and truth. Every time a reporter “slants the facts” or a news outlet “puts excessive profit before excellence,” we have betrayed “those who gave their lives in the course of letting us see.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why more and more adults are reaching for soft toys
Under The Radar Does the popularity of the Squishmallow show Gen Z are 'scared to grow up'?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published