Journalism: A dangerous activity
In the first 10 months of 2018, 73 journalists and media workers have died — and not just in war zones. Threats to investigative reporters are increasing, with a number being arrested and jailed over the last year.
Viktoria Marinova, Bulgaria
The 30-year-old TV presenter had recently hosted investigative journalists working on alleged corruption involving European Union funds. She was brutally murdered in the northern Bulgarian town of Ruse in October 2018.
Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia
The 60-year-old author, <i>Washington Post</i> columnist and former editor-in-chief of Al Arab News Channel was last seen walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 to get papers to verify his divorce. His fiancee waited outside for 11 hours, and she says he never came out. Khashoggi had previously said he believed the Saudi leadership wanted to kill him.
Samim Faramarz, Ramiz Ahmadi, Afghanistan
TV news reporter Samim Faramarz was killed in September 2018 with his cameraman Ramiz Ahmadi when they were reporting from the scene of an explosion in the west of Kabul. The car bomb went off just meters from where they were just finishing a live report. Afghanistan remains the deadliest place in the world to be a journalist.
Mario Gomez, Mexico
After Afghanistan and Syria, Mexico is the most dangerous nation for journalists. There were 14 journalists killed in 2017, and at least 10 more lost their lives in 2018. Mario Gomez, a 35-year-old correspondent, was shot dead by armed men as he left his home in Chiapas in September 2018. He had reportedly received death threats after investigating corruption among state officials.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Myanmar
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had reported the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers. They were arrested in December 2017 after being invited to meet police for dinner in Yangon. In September 2018, after 39 court appearances and 265 days in detention, they were jailed for seven years for breaching the 1923 Official Secrets Act.
Marlon de Carvalho Araujo, Brazil
A major issue in Brazil's election campaign was corruption. Radio journalist Marlon de Carvalho Araujo focused on reporting graft, and he wrote on corruption involving officials at various levels of the Bahia regional administration. In August 2018, four gunmen burst into his home in the early hours and shot him dead.
Shujaat Bukhari, Kashmir
Kashmir journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead outside his newspaper office in Srinagar in June 2018. A contributor to DW, he advocated a peaceful resolution to the conflict between India and Pakistan over the mountainous region.
The Capital, Maryland, USA
Editor Wendi Winters, her assistant Robert Hiaasen, writer Gerald Fischman, reporter John McNamara and sales assistant Rebecca Smith died when a gunman shot through the glass door into their office in June 2018. The man, who had filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper, was arrested at the scene and charged with their murders.
Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, Slovakia
An ex-police officer was named as the killer of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova in February 2018. The murders sparked mass protests and led to the resignation of the prime minister. Kuciak had been investigating ties between government officials and the Italian mafia.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta
Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist who linked Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to the Panama Papers scandal, was killed when a bomb destroyed her car in October 2017.
Viktoria Marinova is the most recent name on the list of murdered journalists for 2018. The International Federation of Journalists has named 73 journalists and media staff killed in the first 10 months of the year. Targeted and crossfire killings over the last year have been reported in Afghanistan, Brazil, Bulgaria, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Liberia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestinian territory, Philippines, the Slovak Republic, Somalia, Syria, the US and Yemen.