On 13 May 2021, a study by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found that journalists’ investigations of political issues, corruption and organized crime in small and medium-sized cities in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras accounted for the murder of 139 media professionals during the decade of 2011-2020. The research was supported by UNESCO via the Global Media Defence Fund.
The online publication, available in 4 languages (English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese), brings attention to the key elements identified around the murders of 139 journalists in Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico – all of which have in common the existence of national mechanisms for the protection of journalists. One major relevant finding was the fact that at least 45 per cent of the victims “had reported receiving threats and had made them public – either in the media they worked for, on their social network accounts, or directly to local security forces”, though only 10 of the 139 murdered journalists had received government protection (7.2% of the total, and 16% of those who had received threats).
This publication was developed within the framework of the project “In Danger: Analysis of Journalist Protection Programs in Latin America”, supported by UNESCO through the Global Media Defence Fund and implemented by RSF. The goal of this project is to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of mechanisms for protecting journalists in four Latin American countries, with the aim of helping to improve such mechanisms throughout the region.
According to the UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists, the Latin America and Caribbean region was the deadliest part of the world for the press in 2019: 40% of the total killings registered worldwide were recorded in that region. The four countries covered by this research project (Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico) account for nearly 80% of the murders of journalists in Latin America in the past decade, according to RSF.
About the Global Media Defence Fund (GMDF)
Administered by UNESCO, the Global Media Defence Fund is a responsive and effective mechanism that supports not-for-profit organizations working on the ground at the local, regional, and international level in the undertaking or upscaling of projects that bolster journalists’ legal protection and/or enhance media freedom through investigative journalism or strategic litigation. The Fund was established within the framework of the Global Campaign for Media Freedom and under the overall umbrella of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
The Global Media Defence Fund’s Second Call for Partnerships is open until 15 June 2021.