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The Mighty Heart
Killing the Messenger
Brussels
13 September 2007
 Despite
the terrible ending to the story we are about to see tonight,
I believe we come here to celebrate – to pay tribute to a
braveheart, a truly mighty heart, of world journalism.
Daniel Pearl endured terror and suffered a shocking death at
the hands of fanatical, cold-hearted murderers – and let us
not hide that that is exactly what they were – because of his
dedication to honest journalism.
Like thousands of others around the world, he was simply doing
his job, of keeping the world informed.
A job that is unglamorous, often unrecognised, usually
unappreciated – but vital for the freedom and wellbeing of the
rest of us.
In the West we often underrate the job of journalists. We are
seen through a tabloid lens as muck-rakers and paparazzi.
We easily forget—or don’t think about until tragedy
strikes—the thousands of workaday journalists around the world
who maintain the daily information flows on which our
governments, businesses and free societies depend in order to
survive and prosper.
Just think of a world without the news thousands of
journalists provide. Every time a journalist is killed,
another window to the light is slammed shut.
The safety of journalists in war, conflict and other danger
areas is the concern of the International News Safety
Institute.
We have just concluded a global inquiry into the deaths of
journalists worldwide – the most comprehensive of its kind –
and we have uncovered some disturbing facts—most of them
little known both outside and inside the news business.
More than a thousand journalists and other news media staff
have died trying to cover the news over the past 10 years.
 Most
of them were not international war correspondents as one might
expect, but ordinary reporters and editors in their own
countries, trying to shine the light of exposure on the dark
recesses of crime and corruption.
They were murdered, coldly and deliberately, to shut them up
and intimidate their colleagues.
Most shocking of all, nine out of ten of their killers escaped
justice, due largely to official indifference in the countries
where they were born, lived and worked.
The worst killing ground for the news media today is of course
Iraq, where 226 have died since the invasion.
The vast majority were Iraqis – the eyes and ears of the world
on their poor country – as they tried to exercise their
newfound “press freedom” for the first time.
But “peaceful” nations, such as Russia, Colombia, India,
Algeria and a host of others, have shameful records.
And the situation continues to deteriorate – 168 dead last
year, a record. This year so far the toll stands at 132, and
we have three months still to go.
Daniel Pearl is one off the most famous cases of
kidnapping—and one of the few in his time. But kidnapping and
hostage-taking have since joined murder as a common weapon
against journalists.
2004 saw a surge in kidnappings. We counted 5 in 2005, 21 in
2006 and 40 by the middle of this year. Thirteen of those
kidnapped this year were murdered.
What can we do?
We must end impunity for journalist killers. This merely
encourages more of the same. A bullet becomes
 the
cheapest and most risk-free form of censorship.
We were heartened when the UN Security Council – responding to
a two-year campaign by INSI, the International Federation of
Journalists and the European Broadcasting Union – passed
Resolution 1738 last December on the safety of journalists in
conflict. This demands an end to impunity.
We will continue to monitor incidents and keep the UN
Secretary General informed.
INSI will continue to fund-raise for free safety training for
colleagues in daily danger who are unable to afford their own.
We have helped almost 700 journalists in danger zones thus
far, but this is merely a beginning as we are constrained by
lack of funds. We need INSI to become the charity of choice
for those who appreciate the value of news and of journalists.
We also demand open inquiries and effective action in judicial
systems where journalists are murdered. We do not make any
special pleading – we merely request states to pursue the
murderers of journalists with the same vigour that they apply
to others.
I t
should not be necessary for Mariane Pearl to have to sue to
find the truth of what happened to Daniel and to bring
accountability and punishment to those involved in his murder.
The families and friends of hundreds of other slain
journalists also cry out for justice.
As we tonight celebrate Daniel Pearl and his work—and rage at
his untimely and unjust death—let us remember the multitude
that have died in relative anonymity, recalled by name only by
their families, friends and colleagues.
And let us celebrate all the Mighty Hearts still out there –
in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Russia, in Colombia, in Mexico, in
Sri Lanka, in Bangladesh, in Ukraine, in Nepal, in occupied
Palestine – who continue against all odds to gather the news
and keep us informed.
Their
bravery is amazing. Their dedication to the truth humbling.
Without
them we would quite simply not be able to celebrate our freedom and
enlightenment here tonight.
They
are all Daniel Pearls, each and every one. I am sure he would be the
first to applaud them.
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