On the list of dangerous professions, journalism doesn't rank very high. Police officers and firefighters are those usually associated with life-threatening environments.
Yet, being a journalist can be extremely risky, particularly for those who are foreign correspondents or who work in nations where the tradition of a free press is new or non-existent.
According to "Attacks on the Press in 2000," an annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 24 journalists were killed in the line of duty last year. The deadliest places were Colombia, Russia and Sierra Leone. Three journalists were killed in each nation. Sadly, as the report notes, those responsible for the killings are rarely brought to justice.
Sierra Leone has been a deadly place for years due to civil war. Since 1997, 15 local journalists and foreign correspondents have been killed there. Saoman Conteh, a journalist working for New Tablet, an independent weekly, was shot while covering a spontaneous demonstration at the Freetown residence of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel leader Foday Sankoh.
Conteh was shot in the chest and leg when Sankoh's bodyguards opened fire on a crowd of people who were protesting the abduction of United Nations peacekeepers by the RUF. He fell to the ground and was trampled to death by the stampede of people fleeing the gunmen.
The others who were killed in Sierra Leone were veteran Reuters correspondent Kurt Schork and Associated Press cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora. They were riding with soldiers from the Sierra Leone Army when RUF forces ambushed them.
Zezinho Cazuza, a Brazilian journalist, was killed by a gunman who later told police that the mayor of the city of Caninde ordered him to assassinate Cazuza. Cazuza had consistently criticized Mayor Genivaldo Galindo da Silva, denouncing his alleged corruption and malfeasance.
In this country, people take the media's right to criticize public officials for granted. Some Americans may resent what they perceive to be abuses by a few less-ethical members of the press, but deep down most Americans understand that a free press is essential for keeping government in line. Quite simply, the above journalists, and the other 20 who gave their lives in 2000, did so because of their belief in freedom of the press. Their deaths stand as a testament to the value of the First Amendment in the United States.
To many leaders around the world, a free press is a threat to their power. Here, it is a time-honored tradition that keeps power in check. That shouldn't be taken for granted.