Two journalists have already been killed in the month of March in Colombia. Journalist and political leader Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo
was shot to death on Thursday, March 15, and journalist Jesús Martínez Orozco,
a community radio reporter, was killed Thursday, March 29, the International
Press Institute (IPI) reported.
In February, IPI published a special report expressing
concern for “the threat to regional media in Latin America,” stating that “the
vast majority of the journalists in those cases were known for their criticism
of local politicians or their reporting on drug cartels or illegal mining
operations.”
Although only one journalist, Luis Eduardo Gómez, was killed
last year in Colombia, at least 202 cases of violence against journalists were recorded in 2011, according to a report by the Colombian Federation of
Journalists (Fecolper in Spanish).
The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish) also presented
a report earlier this year expressing its concern over the state of freedom of expression in Colombia. Violence, self-censorship and impunity were listed as
the biggest problems journalists face in Colombia. Additionally, the Committee
to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also published a report expressing their concern that
criminal gangs "intimidate and silence" journalists in Colombia.
Although these recent killings have not yet been confirmed
as to whether or not they had anything to do with the victims’ professions, these
reports show that being a journalist in Colombia is a risky choice. Moreover, Colombia
also has one of the lowest rankings (143 out of 179 countries) on the World Press Freedom Index 2011-2012 report published by Reporters Without Borders
earlier this year.
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