UNESCO Says One Journalist Dead Every 4.5 days

On Wednesday, UNESCO announced a disturbing report about journalist killings statistics. According to the institution, one journalist is killed every four and a half days. 39 members of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO requested the report. In which Syria tops the list as the worst country for a journalist killed in the line of duty.

According to the report from the Director-General, 827 journalists died while on the job within the past 10 years. The report said, “The extent of the risks faced by journalists is demonstrated by the 827 killings recorded by UNESCO over the course of ten years,”

Worst Countries

In the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity report, the worst countries belong to the Arab Nations. Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, the four countries with the highest journalist fatalities top the list. Latin America followed next as the worst affected nation.

The report indicates that in the last two years of 2006 to 2015, 59% of the deaths occurred in conflicted zones. Throughout those years, 78 out of the 213 correspondents killed in the Arab Nation. It’s a staggering 36.5% ratio of the journalist casualties.

The most shocking surge of journalist slayings occurred in Western Europe and North America. In 2014, no journalist died in the line of duty, the number drastically increased to 11 journalists killed in 2015.

Local Journalist more vulnerable

The report also revealed that local journalists are more vulnerable to danger than foreign correspondent, amounting to 90% of the fatalities. However, a huge spike of deaths recorded for foreign correspondents in 2014. On the same year, 17 journalists killed compare to an average of 4 correspondents in the past years.

Online Journalist

Similarly, online journalist falls victims to the killings. A huge increase in fatalities with a total count of 21 from 2 in 2014, Syrian bloggers reckoned half of them.

Men vs Women

The UNESCO report also uncovered that men were 10 times more susceptible to killings than women. A total of 195 to 18 deaths recorded from 2014 up to 2015. TV journalists serve main targets than the print journalists.

Findings of the report indicated that death is not the only danger journalist have to face.

The report stated for the world to understand, “To this, one needs to add the countless other violations endured by journalists, which include kidnappings, arbitrary detention, torture, intimidation, and harassment, both offline and online, and seizure or destruction of material.”

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Philippine Boxing Legend Pacquiao; No Apology For Drug Use

Philippine boxing superstar and Senator Manny Pacquiao admitted to the use of illegal drugs in the past. However, he maintained he owed nobody, including his fans and countrymen, an apology.

Proclaimed a national hero, the sportsman is a prestigious supporter of his president’s violent war on drugs. The casualty count from President Rodrigo Duterte’s war presently stands at more the 3,000 fatalities.

In an interview this week, he confessed to using narcotics in his teenaged years.

“I’m not hiding the fact that I sampled those, but I was young, maybe 15 or 16 years old,” he said to reporters. At the moment, Pacquiao undergoes training for his WBO fight against top welterweight Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas on November 5.

He said, “I used marijuana, I used shabu,” even mentioning the types of drugs he used.

Locals dubbed crystal meth stimulant “Shabu”, which also happens to be the primary narcotic choice of roughly 3.7 million Filipino addicts.

The boxer/senator firmly encourages Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. A crusade condemned internationally for assumed extrajudicial killings.

He also endorses the President’s plan to reinstate the death penalty for convicted drug dealers in the predominantly Catholic country.

Not an addict

On his refusal to apologize, he stated, “Why should I say sorry to them? I did nothing wrong.”

“Also, I was not addicted. I just experienced it,” he added when a reporter asked if he turned out as a drug dependent.

Pacquiao said that he came out with his admission and related his experience to inspire drug users. If they surrender to the authorities, they can expect leniency and avoid execution in the crackdown.

It all boils down to pure willpower according to him. He focused on sports to force himself from drug abuse.

“Everyone knows that I drank, I gambled and had many women, but realized these were all sins so I stopped. I’m sure what I did for myself was an inspiration to all.”

“It’s up to the person if he really wants to have a fresh start.”

“God gave all of us a brain to discipline ourselves,” he added further.

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