India, where journalism has always been a hazardous profession, has become a killing-field, with eight murdered in the first nine months of 2017. That followed the murders of six in 2016 and five in 2015. Two were killed in 2014 and 11 in 2013. Across the country, reporters are also regularly beaten, often by the police, for unflattering articles. On Sept. 26, for instance, local police in the town of Varkala on India’s southern tip state of Kerala beat up journalist Sanjeev Gopalan, a reporter for a weekly, because of a story a colleague had written accusing the police of failing to protect two woman who complained of harassment. On Sept. 29, the New York-based organization Committee to Protect Journalists demanded that authorities move quickly to identify those responsible for sending threats to at least five reporters providing critical coverage of the government and ensure the journalists' safety.
India: Journalists on Edge
India: Journalists on Edge
India: Journalists on Edge
India, where journalism has always been a hazardous profession, has become a killing-field, with eight murdered in the first nine months of 2017. That followed the murders of six in 2016 and five in 2015. Two were killed in 2014 and 11 in 2013. Across the country, reporters are also regularly beaten, often by the police, for unflattering articles. On Sept. 26, for instance, local police in the town of Varkala on India’s southern tip state of Kerala beat up journalist Sanjeev Gopalan, a reporter for a weekly, because of a story a colleague had written accusing the police of failing to protect two woman who complained of harassment. On Sept. 29, the New York-based organization Committee to Protect Journalists demanded that authorities move quickly to identify those responsible for sending threats to at least five reporters providing critical coverage of the government and ensure the journalists' safety.