The count of journalists killed around the world in 2023, carried out by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), is not unanimous. Several users of the X network denounced Thursday, December 14, what they consider to be an invisibility of the deaths of Palestinian journalists in the annual report of the non-governmental organization.
According to RSF, forty-five journalists lost their lives in the course of their duties (whether reporting or due to their profession), worldwide, in 2023. Down compared to 2022, when sixty-one died . The NGO highlights that the overall number of reporters killed in the world has never been so low since 2002, according to its calculation. “This in no way reduces the tragedy in Gaza, but we are observing a steady decline, far from the more than one hundred and forty journalists killed in 2012, then in 2013 during the wars in Syria and Iraq”explains RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire. “This is still too much, but it is positive to see that the work of intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and the prudence of the media is finally paying off”he judges.
The accounts from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are much more alarmist. The two organizations make the same observation: regarding the Israel-Hamas war, it is the deadliest conflict for journalists than any other conflict since they began recording journalists killed in the exercise of their functions, in 1990 and 1992 respectively.
A “wrong” method for the IFJ
In 2013, 97 journalists or media workers were killed, according to the IFJ, dated December 14. The association, which brings together around 600,000 media professionals in nearly one hundred and fifty countries, estimates that at least 71 journalists have been killed (64 Palestinians, 4 Israelis and 3 Lebanese) since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7. .
For its part, RSF counts thirteen journalists killed in Gaza in the professional context, 56 reporters in total if we include journalists killed with no obvious link to their profession. The global countdown, stopped on 1er December, “does not count journalists killed in their personal lives, nor those whose circumstances of death remain unknown”explains Mr. Deloire. “Without conclusive evidence or a body of evidence, we cannot include it in our assessment”he continues, highlighting the need for “rigor which is a guarantee of credibility”.
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