World

90% of journalists slain since 2001 exposing graft

by jayr_patron | October 11, 2007 at 06:34 pm

387 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment

The Philippines is considered the second most dangerous place for journalists (I've heard too much of this already), next only to Iraq, which has technically been at war. This is since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has stepped in to power in 2001.

Maybe it's high time professional journalists look for a 'safer' career -- but then again, the dangers of being a herald of news is what makes journalism so special.

The other side to this coin is that there is virtually so much press freedom in the country that media practitioners hold so much power -- to the point that they use mass communication to defame and inflame.

Nearly 90 percent of the journalists slain in the line of duty during the Arroyo administration were exposing corruption. Others were killed for reporting on and criticizing illegal gambling and the drug trade in their localities.

These are among the findings of the annual report on the state of press freedom released by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) Thursday.