"I think the protection of journalists is at an all-time low...."

Thanks to Lynn for e-mailing me details of this article from Salon about the shooting by US troops of the Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana.

Depressingly, I find myself agreeing with what his colleague Patricia Naylor says, that there's a dreadful irony in the fact that Dana -- a Palestinian who had survived many skirmishes in the West Bank -- should be killed by an American bullet. "Mazen was probably one of the most savvy and experienced war reporters and cameramen in the world," she says.

Also, as I touched on yesterday, Naylor believes that despite the promise of an investigation into Dana's death, almost nothing will happen.

Mazen Dana was buried today in the West Bank city of Hebron. You can read an interview with him conducted in 2001 here.

There's a poignant sentence in his acceptance speech for an International Press Freedom Award:
"Words and images are a public trust and for this reason I will continue with my work regardless of the hardships and even if it costs me my life."
Tragically it did -- at the hands of the very people supposedly ensuring the safety and security of Iraq.