Attacks on Journalists: A Call for Protection
By Matthew Eloyi
Violence against journalists is on the rise across Nigeria and several other countries. Attacks are getting more severe including murders and other forms of physical violence and threats.
Journalists work in an increasingly hostile climate in which threats against journalists come from political leaders and denigration of their work is being normalized. Attacks are often not sufficiently investigated and a very high percentage of incidents goes unpunished. Impunity reigns and justice is not being done.
Journalists have little confidence that attacks or threats against them will be investigated and often do not report them. This has a grave effect on them and many no longer report attacks but instead, self-censor and shy away from potentially controversial issues. Those few brave journalists who do still report on controversial issues – corruption, the link between organized crime, business and politics, or even ‘regular’ critical political reporting – do so in fear for their safety and that of their families.
The figures are grim for members of the pen profession around the world. For over two decades, more than 1,400 journalists have been killed, and over 890 of them have been murdered with impunity; that is, no killer was ever brought to justice. And today, more than 274 journalists are in prison worldwide, many for doing what would be considered routine reporting in much of the world.
The problem, moreover, appears to be growing worse. The latest data show attacks and killings at near-record levels. Although high-profile killings of renowned journalists—like Tordue Salem of the Vanguard Newspapers—get national attention, the vast majority of fatalities are staff members of local media. And the killings are the tip of the iceberg. Beatings, kidnappings, imprisonment, and threats against journalists are far more numerous and can be just as effective at silencing them.
Threats come from many directions: from desperate politicians or rebel groups; autocratic governments or ethnic enemies; stray bullets or terrorist bombs. Indeed, it may be the widely disparate nature of the threats that make a “one size fits all” solution so elusive.
The time for effective action is now. The urgency of the situation needs to be matched by the urgency of engagement at the political level. Dedicated national plans of action on the safety of journalists and other media actors must be established and implemented, based on Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec2016(4). The process to draw up and implement such plans has already started in some countries, such as Sweden and the Netherlands, and lessons can be drawn from these as well as from experience elsewhere in the world where violence against journalists has been endemic.
It is essential, first of all, that political leaders and public officials explicitly recognize that violence against journalists constitutes a threat to democracy. They must unequivocally condemn violent attacks and stop denigrating the media. A positive message needs to come from the top that freedom of expression is vital to democracy. Governments and groups should realize that journalists operate to report accurately in a fair manner, and of course to balance it all in order to inform and educate society.
