The New York Times this week published a chilling piece about the dire threats faced by Russian journalists. In response to their articles exposing corruption, shining light on extortion and publicizing environmental threats, those newsmen and newswomen have suffered savage beatings, car bomb attacks and unwarranted arrests. The threats to Russian journalists are not new and have been well publicized. The 2006 assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, who wrote extensively and critically about the Chechen conflict, received worldwide attention. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 811 journalists have been killed in the line of duty since 1992. That agency's website provides a database of journalists imprisoned while covering the story or killed on the job. The search interface allows you to explore incidents by year and geographic area. Additional resources allow you to analyze additional information such as the reporter's employer, their beat and the suspected political/criminal affiliation of their murderers. Additionally the site provides detailed statistical information about reporters who perished in the Iraq War and digital access to copies of protest letters written on behalf of imprisoned journalists. The pictures at right come from america.gov, the blog for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International information Program. At top is Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was investigating shoe-bomber Richard Reid when he was kidnapped in Pakistan in January 2002. He was murdered by his captors and his death confirmed the following month. Below is Anna Politikovskaya.
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