Iraq war and news media: A look inside the death toll
The U.S.-led war in Iraq claimed the lives of a record number of journalists and challenged some commonly held perceptions about the risks of covering conflict. Far more journalists, for example, were murdered in targeted killings in Iraq than died in combat-related circumstances. Here, on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war, is…
FOIA needs new muscle behind it, not just promises
These are busy days for Freedom of Information. On April 5, the watchdog Web site that knows no borders, WikiLeaks, posted a classified U.S. military video showing U.S. forces firing on Iraqi civilians, killing many, including two Reuters journalists, as well as wounding children. Two days later, the Pentagon posted a redacted U.S. military assessment of the same incident concluding that U.S. troops fired “in accordance…
CPJ seeks Pentagon investigations in Iraq journalist deaths
Dear Secretary Gates: The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by a video recently disclosed by the Web site WikiLeaks showing a U.S. military strike that took place on July 12, 2007. The attack killed an unspecified number of individuals, including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his assistant, Saeed Chmagh.
Five years after deadly Palestine Hotel and Al-Jazeera strikes, unanswered questions linger
New York, April 7, 2008—Five years after a series of U.S. military strikes against media outlets in Baghdad killed three journalists, CPJ calls on the U.S. military to fully investigate the incidents and make its findings public. CPJ also calls on the U.S. military to implement procedures to address the presence of journalists on the…
In clearing soldiers in 2004 Iraq shooting, U.S. report leaves contradictions unaddressed
New York, May 24, 2007—A U.S. military report that exonerated U.S. troops in the killings of two Al-Arabiya journalists at a Baghdad checkpoint in 2004 failed to address contradictory witness reports, including statements from Al-Arabiya employees that at least two U.S. soldiers fired directly on the journalists’ vehicle, newly declassified records show. The report, disclosed…
WHO KILLS JOURNALISTS AND WHY? Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists to the Committee of Inquiry
Doha, Qatar, Monday, May 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has analyzed the deaths of journalists across the world for many years, producing two recent reports that highlight alarming trends in the circumstances, locations, and motives. At least 339 journalists were killed on duty between 1995 and 2004, according to CPJ research compiled in January.…
Baghdad shooting highlights checkpoint shortcomings
New York, May 2, 2005—A March 4 shooting in Baghdad in which U.S. forces killed Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari and wounded Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and agent Andrea Carpani might have been avoided if the military had used basic warning measures such as signs and speed bumps to alert civilians to the presence of…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Iraq
IraqFor the second consecutive year, Iraq was the most dangerous place in the world to work as a journalist, and the conflict there remained one of the most deadly in recent history for the media. Twenty-three journalists were killed in action in 2004, along with 16 media workers.
CNN’s Jordan is gone, but questions remain over U.S. security record in Iraq
Committee to Protect Journalists This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 22, 2005 Posted: February 17, 2005 The media was abuzz over comments attributed to CNN news executive Eason Jordan that some of the several dozen journalists killed in Iraq were deliberately targeted by U.S. forces. Pundits, bloggers, columnists, and members of Congress…