The Associated Press has coverage today of CPJ’s tally of journalists killed for their work in 2008. The final number rests at 41, with 22 cases still unconfirmed. We released a video remembering those who died in the past year, as well as an in-depth report on those killed in 2008.
Also from AP today is an article about the difficulties faced by reporters attempting to cover the conflict unfolding in Gaza. According to reports, foreign journalists have been barred from entering the combat zone by the IDF. The story quotes CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Mohamed Abdel Dayem: “There is a need for journalists to be on the ground to document the news stories, and frankly to monitor the behavior of all belligerent parties, whether it is Hamas or the Israeli army.”
The finding that online journalists made up the majority of all journalists imprisoned in 2008 is receiving more coverage today. Illinois’ Rockford Register Star mentions of our imprisoned census in a yearly round-up of technology, and the West Virginia-based Huntington Herald-Dispatch has a blog post about this new threat to journalists.