What would be worse, losing your job or your life:
Iraq more deadly to journalists than Vietnam, WWII
Last Updated Fri, 05 May 2006 15:18:03 EDT
CBC Arts

There have been 74 journalists killed in Iraq since 2003, according to Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to freedom of the press.

Lisa Ramaci-Vincent, widow of slain journalist Steven Vincent touches the name of her husband on a memorial honouring journalists who died on the job, including 59 who died in 2005. (Mannie Garcia/AP)

More journalists died in Iraq than in either the Second World War or the conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The names of 59 journalists who died on the job in 2005 were added to the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday. That number included 23 killed in Iraq.

The names of the journalists were read aloud and followed by a chime during a ceremony held at the memorial.

Among the dead were two cameramen for Associated Press Television News. Saleh Ibrahim, 33, was killed by gunfire in Iraq after shooting footage in the aftermath of an explosion. Mir Nawab, 34, died in Pakistan when his bus was attacked as he returned from covering the surrender of a tribal militant.

Three months ago, World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff and Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured in a roadside bomb attack just north of Baghdad. Both are still recovering from their injuries.

ABC News president David Westin paid tribute to journalists who died on the job.

"We never, ever want anyone to lose his life in reporting the news," he said. "But the simple, harsh fact is that there are stories so important that some journalists volunteer to take the risk on behalf of all of us."

Among those honoured were Steven Vincent, 49, a freelance journalist who had written for the Christian Science Monitor, National Review and the New York Times. He was killed in Basra, Iraq, after he and his translator were kidnapped.

Vincent's widow, Lisa Ramaci-Vincent, said she valued the tribute because Vincent wasn't a permanent employee of a major news organization. "The fact he was considered to have given his life for truth and freedom, he deserves to be a hero," she told Associated Press.

Three journalists died in the United States: two in car accidents, and one who contracted malaria after working in Namibia.

The memorial, a spiral-shaped structure made of glass panels that change colour as they catch the sunlight, now bears the names of 1,665 journalists, dating back to 1812. The annual ceremony marks World Press Freedom Day.