Assigned to a dangerous job

Gary Cunningham. Photo / Supplied

More than 1500 journalists, camera crew and photographers have died covering stories in the past 14 years.

The International News Safety Institute, which monitors the work of journalists in conflicts, says 30 have died this year, including two in Bangkok during clashes between Thai troops and anti-government protesters.

Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto died when he was shot in the chest by an unknown assailant. Muramoto, 43, and a Japanese national, had been employed with Reuters' Tokyo bureau for the past 15 years. Italian photo-journalist Fabio Polenghi was shot dead on May 19, as he covered the military crackdown in Bangkok.

An INSI global inquiry , Killing The Messenger, recorded 1000 deaths between 1996 and mid-2006.

A further 500 have died since then, maintaining an average of more than two deaths every week.

An additional 13 cases are under investigation to determine whether the killings were connected with the victims' work.

All this suggests that journalists continue to face deadly threats in the course of dangerous assignments, despite a range of measures meant to reduce chances of being injured or killed.

Under the Geneva Conventions, the basis of international humanitarian law (IHL), civilian journalists are meant to be protected from intentional attack.

Journalists can lose that protection if they take part in hostilities.

According to this aspect of the Geneva accords, Balibo Five television journalist Greg Shackleton broke the rules when he conveyed a message for Fretilin soldiers defending East Timor against Indonesian invaders.

Author Tony Maniaty - who warned Shackleton and his colleagues against remaining in Timor - says in 1975 few journalists had any idea about humanitarian laws.

Ratified by all states, these "war rules" offer a legal shield for those covering conflicts, and provide a measure of comfort that state-sanctioned violence is meant to occur within civilised limits of behaviour.

Maniaty, a member of the Brussels-based institute, says modern reporting is even more precarious as journalists wear gear resembling military outfits and carry weapon-like equipment.