Forty-five.
Forty-five men and women committed to shedding a light into the world’s darkest corners have been killed this year.
They were journalists who devoted themselves to assignments that they knew would put them in harm’s way. They were journalists who were murdered for uncovering controversial and extraordinary truths.
This is not something that happens only in far away places that we only hear about on the nightly news. Four journalists were killed here in America. A country where freedoms and protections of the press are revered.
There have been journalists killed alongside troops in war zones. There have been journalists killed while just trying to get their marriage papers.
This is not something new, though.
Decades of reporters and photographers have faced jailing or violence, while publishers faced lawsuits forcing many publications out of business.
A sentiment not curbed by the actions, or inactions of the current United States President’s administration.
“The longstanding assumption has been that the First Amendment grants U.S. journalists immunity from the sorts of attacks that their more vulnerable colleagues elsewhere suffer,” said Alan Huffman of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Yet those protections are contingent upon the support for a free media of both the government and the public.”
Recent events have proven the malicious view of journalists and the media as a whole, held by the President and many right-wing minded people, has detrimental and dangerous effects on those that are a part of the occupation.
Just last week, suspicious packages that were quickly recognized as bombs were sent to various people and media outlets that fall under the label of Democrat or liberally-minded.
The blatant threats on the lives of the people who work to bring information to the public was a terrifying event to take place in 2018.
And what did the President do to respond to said threats?
He took to Twitter and said nothing that had any semblance of sympathy or concern for the lives of those put at risk.
“There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame . . .”
Trump incites the hatred and violence that occurs against journalists everywhere. He creates an environment in which toxic views can thrive.
The result is forty-five journalists dying around the world in 2018 alone. The result is bombs being sent to news outlets like CNN. The result is a consistently growing rate of anger towards journalists. The result is an overall loss of the meaning of the phrase: freedom of the press.
To live in a world like this as young journalists, aspiring towards a career that puts a target on the backs of all of us, is heartbreaking.
To be dedicated to pursuing the truth, to relaying information to the rest of the world, to bringing some semblance of light and honesty into the world and to be demonized for it, is sickening.
We, as writers, are trying to explain how terrifying it is to live in the world right now in the best way we know how.
We, as human beings, are proud of the titles we have chosen to pursue despite the danger that may put us in.
It is 2018. We are students. We are writers. We are journalists. And we are scared of what that means for our futures.
But we will not be silenced.
We at “The Leader” extend our thanks and condolences to the families of, and the journalists themselves who have lost their lives this year, fulfilling the devotion to truth and freedom of speech, press and expression. Your pens may have stopped writing, but your words continue on.
Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez – Freelance – Jan. 13
Jefferson Pureza Lopes – Beira Rio FM – Jan. 17
Mohammad al-Qadasi – Belqees TV – Jan. 22
Leslie Ann Pamela Montenegro del Real – El Sillón – Feb. 5
Abdul Rahman Ismael Yassin – Hammouriyeh Media Office- Feb. 20
Ján Kuciak – Aktuality – Between Feb. 22 and 25
Bashar al-Attar – Arbin Unified Media Office – March 12
Kamel abu al-Walid – Jarabulus Media Office – March 19
Leobardo Vázquez Atzin – Enlace Informativo Regional – March 21
Obeida abu Omar – Damaski Media Agency – March 21
Navin Nischal – Dainik Bhaskar – March 25
Sandeep Sharma – News World – March 26
Yaser Murtaja – Ain Media – April 7
Paúl Rivas Bravo – El Comercio – Between April 10 and 12
Abdullah al-Qadry – Belqees TV – April 13
Juan Javier Ortega Reyes – El Comercio – Between April 10 and 12
Ángel Eduardo Gahona – El Meridiano – April 21
Abdul Manan Arghand – Kabul News – April 25
Ahmed Abu Hussein – Voice of the People Radio, Bisan News Agency – April 25
Shah Marai – Agence France-Presse – April 30
Abadulla Hananzai – Radio Azadi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – April 30
Sabawoon Kakar – Radio Azadi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – April 30
Yar Mohammed Tokhi – TOLO News – April 30
Ghazi Rasooli – 1TV – April 30
Nowroz Ali Rajabi – 1TV – April 30
Saleem Talash – Mashal TV – April 30
Ali Saleemi – Mashal TV – April 30
Maharram Durrani – Radio Azadi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – April 30
Ibrahim al-Munjar – Sy24 – May 17
Shujaat Bukhari – Rising Kashmir – June 14
Gerald Fischman – Capital Gazette – June 28
John McNamara – Capital Gazette – June 28
Rob Hiaasen – Capital Gazette – June 28
Wendi Winters – Capital Gazette – June 28
Mustafa Salamah – Sama TV – July 16
Aleksandr Rastorguyev – The Investigations Management Centre – July 30
Orkhan Dzhemal – The Investigations Management Centre – July 30
Kirill Radchenko – The Investigations Management Centre – July 30
Musa Abdul Kareem – Fasanea – July 31
Ahmed Azize – Aleppo News Network – August 10
Samim Faramarz – TOLO News – September 5
Ramiz Ahmadi – TOLO News – September 5
Omar Ezzi Mohammed – Al-Maraweah Radio Broadcasting Center – Sept. 16
Mario Leonel Gómez Sánchez – El Heraldo de Chiapas – Sept. 21
Jamal Khashoggi – The Washington Post – Oct. 2