Watch Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Cost of News

Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Cost of News is a strong, chilling documentary that reveals a series of failures, miscommunications, and corruption that contributed to danger and death among journalists worldwide. It showcases the dangers and situations journalists face, and the consequences of their work, where the most dangerous war is arguably the information war.

With powerful and gripping narrative and imagery, this documentary explores the dangers of reporting on military conflicts, drug wars, and terrorist threats. It shows how reporting in these hotspots can put journalists' lives at risk, as they become targets themselves. Over the last few years, concerned citizens worldwide have witnessed the murder of beloved journalists who were trying to expose corruption or report from war zones. Their investigative reporting can lead to death threats, kidnappings, and assassinations.

Killing the Messenger dives deep into the car bombing that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative journalist. The journalist had reported on financial corruptions, kicking against the government corruption that goes unchecked. A car bomb exploded when she was driving, following months of death threats. The death of this journalist was a tragic illustration of how dangerous investigative reporting has become.

The documentary also examines the deaths of other journalists, including Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian reporter who was beaten to death and his body dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Other cases documented in the film include those of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who uncovered the war crimes in Chechnya; James Foley, a US journalist who went to report the Syrian conflict, and was beheaded by ISIS; and many others who faced brutal deaths for issuing factual information.

Killing the Messenger highlights the looming danger that journalists face when they attempt to speak truth to power. It interrogates how anonymous sources are protected and what happens if such sources are exposed, and how corrupt elected officials and government bureaucrats can react by targeting and eliminating journalists who refuse to be silenced. It castigates governments worldwide for failing to protect their investigative journalists and highlights the role of the international community in this regard.

The documentary also examines the role of major technology companies in contemporary journalism, and how the internet has turned journalism on its head. These companies have an enormous influence on what news gets published, how it gets promoted, and the opinions we form. This control allows internet giants to censor and suppress articles, images, videos, or news that they do not want individuals to see. They can also exploit personal data, thereby making their choices to suppress or publish news based on individual interests.

Killing the Messenger is a well-researched, well-edited, and well-constructed documentary, rich in testimonies, interviews, and analysis. It provides a thought-provoking perspective, compelling viewers to think critically about the role of information, transparency, and who gets to decide what is news. The film is an insight into how dangerous it has become to report facts, and challenge government propaganda, multinational corporations, and other organs of power in the modern age.

The documentary's tone is powerful and emotive, shining a light on the human cost of speaking truth to power. The film serves as a reminder that the role of journalists and the media is to give the public access to truth and factual information, regardless of the consequences.

In sum, Killing the Messenger is an essential film for anyone concerned about the suppression of free speech and censorship or the value of the work of investigative journalists. The documentary underscores the importance of remaining vigilant for those who dare to raise their voices and shed light on situations that powerful interests would rather keep hidden. And it does so by telling tragic yet compelling stories of those who have paid the ultimate price, placing their lives on the line to get to the truth.

Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Cost of News is a documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 18 minutes.