1 January - Honduras - José Fernando Gonzáles
Two individuals entered the station, pretending to be clients of the station, and as soon as radio station owner, José Fernando Gonzáles appeared to attend to them, they shot him repeatedly, killing him on the spot, without speaking a word. The incident took place in the north-western community of Santa Bárbara, some 250 kilometres from the capital, Tegucigalpa.
The two individuals came by truck; three others remained waiting in the truck while the killers entered the building. The killers told staff that they were interested in buying advertising time. Gonzáles was then in the broadcast booth with two programme hosts. When he exited the booth, the killers opened fire.
Silvio Inestroza, the Santa Bárbara chief of police, says the police are entertaining two hypotheses with regard to the motives of the killing: that it was either a crime of passion, or related to his work. Gonzáles had been expanding his media holdings in the region.

5 January - Brazil - Walter Lessa de Oliveira
Walter Lessa de Oliveira, a cameraman employed by TV Assembléia, a public TV service operated by the Alagoas state assembly, was gunned down while at a bus stop on the outskirts of Maceió. Citing several witnesses, the police have identified a drug trafficker known by the nickname of “Aranha” (Spider) as the killer. “Aranha” allegedly pulled up in a car alongside Lessa and fired four shots at him. Hit in the head, Lessa died immediately.
The most plausible theory is that the shooting was in revenge for the fact Lessa had in the past filmed footage of “Aranha” that was shown on state television. An alternative theory that has been suggested is that Lessa was shot while resisting an attempted robbery, but this is not supported by the witness statements taken by the police, and nothing was stolen from him.
Born near Rio de Janeiro, Lessa used to head the Alagoas Union of Professional Journalists and worked for TV Gazeta for more than 20 years. Of late, he had worked for the Maceió Centre for Higher Education as well as TV Assembléia.

5 February - Mexico - Francisco Ortiz Monroy
Ortiz Monroy, 48, was gunned down as he was leaving the municipal offices in Ciudad Camargo. According to a version reported by the local press, several armed men got out of a car and opened fire on the journalist who ran and took refuge in a nearby house. His assailants then pursued him and shot him dead. Ortiz Monroy’s body was reportedly found on a bed with eight gun shot wounds.
In another account, the journalist was killed during a clash between soldiers and armed men - a version considered to be less likely that the first. His identity was only confirmed by his paper late in the evening, around ten hours after the incident, even though he was carrying an ID issued by the paper.
Abel Magaña, a deputy editor for El Diario de México, told Reporters Without Borders that the journalist had been covering Tamaulipas state for the Mexico City-based daily for more than one year. “He sent news to us from time to time, that is general official news, which had nothing to do with drug-trafficking”, he said. This is confirmed by the victim’s most recent by-lined articles dated 1st and 2nd January 2008.
Tamaulipas state is one of Mexico’s biggest crime hot spots, mired in drug trafficking and illegal immigration to the United States, which it borders. The paper said that the journalist also worked for the customs. El Diario de México has not managed to obtain any further information from the investigators or any response from the murdered journalist’s family and friends.

17 February - Uganda - Rebecca Wilbrod Kasujja
Rebecca Wilbrod Kasujja, 32, was attacked by unknown gangsters on Sunday, 17 February, at around 7:30am, as she was going for work.
She was raped and later killed by her attackers. Rebecca has been working with Buwama FM Radio station, a community radio station based in 62km South of Kampala, Uganda’s Capital city.
Rebecca left her home in Kasubikamu Village in Mpigi district on Sunday morning and fell into an ambush on her way to her workstation where she was going for a morning programme.
Residents of this village later discovered her body in a nearby bush and reported the incident to Buwama police station. Her body was buried on Monday at Kasubikamu Village. The reason behind her killing remains unknown, but fellow journalists believe it has relations with her journalistic work.

24 February - Ecuador - Carlos Navarrete
Navarrete, 53, was found dead in the bathroom of his Guayaquil home on the night of 24 February by his mother. His hands were tied and he had been stabbed seven times in the neck and thorax. The police said they also found signs of torture on the body.
Blood was discovered inside his car, which was found in another part of the city, and the police suspect he was not killed in his home. The neighbours did not see or hear anything suspicious and nothing appears to have been taken from the home. The police now say they think the murder was an act of revenge.
"El Telégrafo", the newspaper which Navarrete had previously edited, was acquired by the government in 1999 when the business empire of its owner, Fernando Aspiazu, collapsed. Navarrete waged a long battle after that on behalf of the newspaper's private shareholders to regain control. After a court ruled in favour of the state on 7 June 2007, Navarrete had to leave and went to Guayaquil to run "La Calle".

7 April - Philippines - Benefredo Acabal
Benefredo Acabal, 34, was shot several times at close range by an unidentified gunman who fled the scene on a motorcycle, according to local and international news reports. Acabal, who publishes and writes a column for local paper The Filipino Newsmen in Cavite province, south of Manila, died from five gunshot wounds while en route to the hospital, the reports said.
Reuters cited local police officer Lardy Ignacio, who confirmed the death but said police were still investigating whether Acabal had been targeted for his journalism. The Philippine Star reported that Acabal was also involved in the trucking business.