Press freedom watchdogs released their 2006 annual reports documenting violence against media workers and the numbers are grim. The International Federation of Journalists reported the highest number, recording 155 murders, assassinations and unexplained deaths of reporters and media staff. Likewise the Committee to Protect Journalists announced a surge in attacks over 2005 statistics. CPJ said 2006 was the deadliest year for journalists that the organization has ever recorded, with Iraq ranking as the most dangerous for media. Abi Wright is communications director with CPJ. Could you talk about some of the dangers faced by journalists in Iraq and how the nature of these threats has changed.

Wright: “Yes indeed, the violence in Iraq made 2006 the deadliest year that we’ve documented in a single country. Beginning in 2003, we began to see the number of journalists grow but the reasons for these murders have changed over time. The beginning of the war, we documented more killings in crossfire. What we see now is the targeted murders, not crossfire, not a question of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Do these murders and crimes against journalist often go unsolved?

Wright: “Absolutely. Impunity is one the main problems we are following at CPJ. The majority of cases, it’s actually rare that someone is brought to justice. We released an analysis of 15 years of statistics, and found in the vast majority of cases, no one is held accountability. The result is a self-perpetuating pattern where someone gets away with murder once, and other groups and parties who are interested in silencing journalists to commit similar crimes.”

Abi Wright is Communications Director for the Committee to Protect Journalists. Profiles of reporters killed or missing can be found at cpj.org