Silencing Journalism by Murder?: An Overview of Six Global Case Studies

As journalists increasingly face growing threats of violence worldwide, Silencing Journalism by Murder? presents six global case studies of high-profile journalists who were assassinated for reporting on controversial topics that they felt ethically bound to share with the public. In doing so, Amani Ismail and Gayane Torosyan raise critical questions surrounding democracy, censorship, and the varying power dynamics between the media, the government, and the public.

Ismail and Torosyan situate each case within both local and global contexts to examine the factors that led to these murders. While each of the six selected cases is uniquely horrific and condemnable in its own right, the authors identify parallels and contrasts across them to consider how they fit into a larger, grim picture of violence against journalists and how the evolution of the broader media landscape toward digital journalism has impacted these perils.

These stories of slain journalists from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Venezuela, Palestine, and Malta are illustrated not just as tributes to their ultimate sacrifice for a noble cause, but also to serve as a call to action that urgently argues for the implementation of violence prevention measures for journalists around the globe.

Amani Ismail is Associate Dean for the School of Humanities and Creative Arts and programme lead for Mass Communications at the University of Hertfordshire’s branch campus in Cairo, Egypt.

Gayane Torosyan is Professor of Media Studies at the State University of New York, Oneonta, USA,