Don't Breathe a Word : Journalist Killings, Self-Censorship, and Corruption

Abstract: With a majority of studies on journalist killing focused on identifying its causes, this study attempts to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the consequences of the phenomenon and whether these are similar to those brought on by traditional forms of media restriction. Based on previous research, two hypotheses were formulated. First, corruption was theorized to be greater where journalists are killed, and secondly, this effect was theorized to be amplified in democracies which are not fully consolidated. To test these hypotheses, OLS regression analysis was conducted on 172 countries between 2009-2014. While the results show that journalist killings increase the level of corruption, no conclusive evidence indicating an amplified effect in unconsolidated democracies could be found. This study has contributed to an enhanced understanding of the consequences of journalist killings and further indicate that these are in line with the consequences of more general forms of media restriction.