Provided in collaboration with European insurers ACE, the insurance is designed to provide security for freelance reporters and photographers who may be injured, detained or even killed while working in areas of conflict.
In the past ten years, more than 250 journalists have been killed while reporting from war zones.
"The policy was particularly popular when journalists needed protection during the Iraq war," said Matthieu Fargeas of RSF.
"Since the creation of the scheme, approximately 80 policies have been taken out for periods varying from 2 to 60 days,"
Cover starts at 3 Euros per day, although the policy is not currently available to journalists based outside Europe and does not include cover for reporting equipment such as laptops and satellite phones.
RSF has recently introduced supplements for higher risk areas such as Afghanistan, Israel and Iraq. Ten journalists have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war and most recently, UK freelance journalist Richard Wild was shot and killed outside the Iraqi Natural History Museum at the beginning of July.
RSF are keen to promote the insurance policy as part of their safety campaign, urging major news groups to follow basic guidelines laid out in their safety charter. The 'Charter for the Safety of Journalists Working in War Zones or Dangerous Areas' has been adopted by several major news organisations including Reuters and El Periodico de Catalunya.
See also:
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4970
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