74 journalists have died trying to get the news in Iraq since the U.S. invasion four years ago. Has any other war produced so many dead journalists, so fast? That number is about 16 per year.
The Newseum has a memorial to journalists who died trying to get the story. It contains just over 1,500 names, for wars from the War of 1812 to the present.
Each year, the Freedom Forum commemorates World Press Freedom Day by rededicating the Journalists Memorial, which pays tribute to reporters, editors, photographers and broadcasters who gave their lives reporting the news. On May 3, 2006, the names of 59 journalists who died or were killed while on assignment in 2005 were added to the glass panels of the memorial. The rededication ceremony featured remarks by David Westin, president of ABC News. The Journalists Memorial now honors 1,665 journalists who died covering the news from 1812 through 2005.
What is it about this war that makes it so much more deadly than other wars, for journalists? What does that say about the state of our world today, and the respect traditionally show to people who simply report what happens?
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 