ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Shifa Garda, a Rudaw reporter tragically killed in 2017 while reporting on the war with ISIS, is among 18 names inscribed into a memorial for fallen journalists at the Newseum, a Washington DC museum dedicated to the freedom of speech and the press.
The 18 names represent just a fraction of dozens of journalists killed on the job throughout 2017.
“They represent the much larger threat to all journalists, who face unprecedented dangers as they strive to provide information about our society, often in countries where press freedom is imperiled or nonexistent,” said Jan Neuharth, chief executive of the Freedom Forum, the parent organization of the Newseum, AFP reports.
Other fallen journalists include Christopher Allen, a US freelance journalist shot in crossfire while covering a battle between the South Sudanese army and rebel fighters.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese investigative journalist, was killed by a car bomb near her home after she exposed widespread corruption in the Mediterranean country.
Javier Valdez, a long-time AFP contributor, and Miroslava Breach were shot dead for their work investigating drug cartels in Mexico.
Rudaw’s Shifa Gardi was remembered by her colleagues on February 25, one year after her death.
The 18 names represent just a fraction of dozens of journalists killed on the job throughout 2017.
“They represent the much larger threat to all journalists, who face unprecedented dangers as they strive to provide information about our society, often in countries where press freedom is imperiled or nonexistent,” said Jan Neuharth, chief executive of the Freedom Forum, the parent organization of the Newseum, AFP reports.
Other fallen journalists include Christopher Allen, a US freelance journalist shot in crossfire while covering a battle between the South Sudanese army and rebel fighters.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese investigative journalist, was killed by a car bomb near her home after she exposed widespread corruption in the Mediterranean country.
Javier Valdez, a long-time AFP contributor, and Miroslava Breach were shot dead for their work investigating drug cartels in Mexico.
Rudaw’s Shifa Gardi was remembered by her colleagues on February 25, one year after her death.
Gardi, who was reporting on the war against ISIS in western Mosul for her daily program Focus Mosul, was killed near war-torn city on February 25, 2017. Her cameraman Younis Mustafa was injured in the same attack.
Gardi was killed by an ISIS bomb planted on the edge of the Khasfa pit, a mass burial site south of the city. A number of Hashd al-Shaabi fighters accompanying her to the spot were also killed and others wounded.
Syria and Iraq are among the top four deadliest countries for journalists and media workers, according to the 2017 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The number of female journalist killed in the course of their work has doubled in the past year.
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