Memorial to journalists, 78 people are honored

In a somber rededication of a memorial to journalists who died in the line of work, 78 people were honored Tuesday, their names written on the spiraling glass structure.

The &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/11/26/39994.html ' target=_blank>Iraq war claimed the lives of 25 of them, including a CNN producer, a Polish television correspondent and an Italian freelancer who was kidnapped and murdered by a &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2002/09/20/36972.html ' target=_blank>militant group.

In a ceremony under a midmorning sun that reflected a rainbow of colors off the memorial, family, friends and colleagues gathered to hear the 78 names read aloud.

Overall, 2004 was the third deadliest year for the profession in nearly two centuries, according to the Freedom Forum, which rededicates the memorial each year to mark World Press Freedom Day. More people died in this manner in 1991 and 1994.

Among those who died last year in two dozen countries, some were caught in the crossfire of war, while about half were murdered because of their work. Nine were Filipinos killed in their own country, publishes the Guardian Unlimited.

Speakers noted a global trend of targeting journalists and they criticized authorities for sometimes failing to fully investigate such killings. "We should direct some of our anger, some of our energy toward those governments who condone these killings, or who look the other way," said CNN correspondent Judy Woodruff.

The memorial now bears the name of American journalist Paul Klebnikov, the editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition, who was gunned down in Moscow in July.