Killing the Messenger

The INSI Global Inquiry into the causes of journalist deaths around the world was the most comprehensive yet conducted. It covered all deaths between 1996 and mid-2006 and took two years to complete.

The Inquiry, under the chairmanship of Richard Sambrook, BBC Global News Director, was launched formally on 3 May 2005, World Press Freedom Day. It comprised data research and interviews with international correspondents as well as regional journalists in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Its conclusions were shocking. The Inquiry disclosed that more than 1,000 news media personnel had died trying to report the news over the decade -- almost two deaths every week. Only one in four died covering wars -- most fell in peacetime in their own countries and in two-thirds of the cases the killers were not even identified and probably never will be.

The report, 'Killing the Messenger', was presented in London on 9 March 2007. It made several key recommendations, to international bodies, governments, security forces, news organisations and journalists themselves which would, if acted upon, reduce the death toll.

INSI would like to thank Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies for the research and the compilation of data. It also expresses its gratitude to member organisations such as the IFJ, CPJ, IPI, WAN and others -- and of course to the brave individual journalists and support staff who testified about their often traumatic experiences.

Since its publication, the International News Safety Institute has been working with the Cardiff School of Journalism to produce annual Killing the Messenger reports. Below is a list of the publications to date.

Main conclusions and Recommendations in PDF format

Fact-Finding Sessions

The Committee of Inquiry has taken testimony from legal experts, journalists, media representatives, international organisations and other interested parties both in written form and through regional hearings. The Committee has paid particular attention to problems facing media staff in four key regional areas: