At Least Three Journalists Targeted in '05

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the killing of Kate Peyton, a British Broadcasting Corp. producer, Feb. 9 in Mogadishu, Somalia, was the third confirmed killing of a journalist in the line of duty in 2005. Two more killings are under investigation.

Peyton was shot outside her hotel and died later at a local hospital, according to the committee.

Amir Nowab, a cameraman for Associated Press Television News, and Allah Noor, with Khyber TV, were killed Feb. 7 in Pakistan when gunmen opened fire on them while they were covering the surrender of a tribal militant. Anwar Shakir, a stringer for Agence France-Presse, was also wounded, but is in stable condition.

In addition, Abdul-Hussein Khazal, with U.S.-backed Ah-Hurrah TV in Iraq. was gunned down along with his son Feb. 9, but the committee says the motive was unclear, with one group saying he was killed because he was a Shiite, others because he was a journalist.

On Jan. 11 in Columbia, Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez, a veteran radio news host with Radio Lemas, was shot as he drove to work, but a motive has not been determined.

If those turn out to be targeted killings, the number would rise to five.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.