Reporters Without Borders: 110 Journalists Killed in 2015

Reporters Without Borders states that 110 journalists were killed worldwide in 2015. This international NGO expressed regret in a statement released on Tuesday, January 8, 2016, in the final days of 2015, that 'some governments' have not taken serious action to protect journalists and urged them to take 'immediate and appropriate responses to the danger.' According to Reporters Without Borders, 67 of the 110 journalists killed in 2015 were 'deliberately' murdered 'because of their profession or for carrying out their duties.' The organization notes that with the 2015 statistics included, the total number of journalists killed since 2005 has reached 787. Reporters Without Borders also highlighted that the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris marked the first time a European country was listed among the top three deadliest countries for journalists. The organization emphasized that 27 citizen-journalists and seven media collaborators were also killed in 2015. Furthermore, it announced that for the first time in 2015, a European country ranked third among the deadliest countries for journalists, with France following Iraq and Syria in this regard. The attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris in January 2015 resulted in the deaths of 10 cartoonists and other staff members of the magazine, as well as two French police officers. Reporters Without Borders added in its annual report that while two-thirds of journalists killed worldwide in 2014 died in war zones, the same proportion was killed in non-conflict countries in 2015. In this context, Iran was noted as the 'third largest prison' for journalists in the world in 2015, with protests from dozens of journalists against the detention of journalists on 'false' charges.