Journalism is becoming an increasingly dangerous profession and many have lost their lives or were maimed in the course of the work.

In the past when there were brutal dictatorships in Latin America, Asia and Africa many journalists simply disappeared never to be heard of again, while others were thrown into jail or severely harassed. But despite the fact that brutal dictatorships are on the decline, the lives and limbs of journalists are still under severe threat because the world is enmeshed in many wars and terrorism and there is also the growth of the illegal drug trade. The drug lords and their gangs have been merciless in eliminating any journalist who poses a threat to their criminal enterprise.
According to recent Reuters report, 40 journalists and back up staff have already been killed for the first half of this year, while the circumstances surrounding the death of 27 others have to be clarified.
This is most alarming indeed, and if this trend continues then journalist will become a threatened species.
The Reuters report noted that often killings occurred because, the victims, uncover crime and corruption.
Of course one of the most troubled areas with respect to safety of journalists has been Latin America, mainly because of rebel wars and the burgeoning illegal drug trade.
A Guilds newspaper report recently said an increase of threats and pressures on reporters, whose latest chapter, was the revelation of a senior official over a plan to assassinate a prominent journalist and two researchers.
The report went on to state that from May 1 until the day you have seen a shooting of a journalist, the threat in a pamphlet to a group of eight journalists in northern Mexico and the reporting of a plan to kill the journalist Gonzalo Guillen and researchers group Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, Leon Valencia and Ariel Avila, will be devoted to the analysis of the internal armed conflict.
Although authorities have not said whether among these cases there is a direct link, spokesmen for associations such as the Foundation for Press Freedom and the Colombian Federation of Journalists, as well as Valencia, stressed that the new wave of threats would be a reaction to the reports of regional political mafias and reactions to the peace negotiations since the government of President Juan Manuel Santos with guerrillas Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
“The main hypothesis is that: the research we did from 2011 on these political mafias … and the prosecution is developing much research” from data collected nationwide by Rainbow, but especially in the northern departments as Guajira, Magdalena and Cesar Valencia said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Perhaps not many appreciate the sacrifices and risks many journalists make in bringing information to the public and exposing criminal activities. Sometimes they do so not only at personal risk but to that of their families as well.
But how will we protect journalists and make their job a safer one! That is a question which cannot be easily answered as we have a world increasingly being engulfed in senseless wars, illegal drug trade and terrorism.
Perhaps the safety of journalists would only be guaranteed when we bring an end to all scourges facing society and that does not seem possible in the near future.