International

CPJ names danger zones for journalists

New York May 2. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) marked World Press Freedom Day by naming the world's worst places to be a journalist — 10 places whose dangers and restrictions represent the full range of current threats to press freedom.

At the top of the list is the West Bank, where the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon's Government has used force to keep journalists from covering its recent military incursion. Next is Colombia, where violent reprisals against the press by all factions in the civil conflict have made this the most deadly beat in the Western hemisphere. Dangers persist in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed in the line of duty in late 2001, and where U.S. government actions have hindered independent reporting on the war.

The CPJ also placed Eritrea, Belarus, Burma, Zimbabwe, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, and Cuba on the list of worst places to be a journalist. "In these countries where press freedom is under attack, journalists endure violent assaults, crackdowns by authoritarian regimes, danger from military operations, and harsh financial reprisals designed to bankrupt independent voices," said the CPJ executive director, Ann Cooper.

"Incredibly, in many of these places, journalists still manage to report the news — even under extremely difficult circumstances and at great personal risk," said Ms. Cooper.

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