Dear Friends,

A total of 54 journalists are currently being held hostage worldwide, versus 40 this time last year – a 35% increase.
Journalists are easy targets for radical groups such as the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front, who use them not only for ransoms or leverage but also, and above all to impose a reign of terror and to silence their critics. It comes as no surprise that the most dangerous country is Syria, where entire regions are now “information black holes.”