The international organization for the protection of journalists "Reporters sans frontieres" (Reporters sans frontieres - RSF) announced that its director general Christophe Deloire died today of cancer at the age of 54.
Deloir has been the general director of the Paris-based organization since 2012 and "turned the Association into a world champion for the defense of journalism over 12 years," according to the statement.
"Journalism was the struggle of his life, which he fought with unwavering conviction," RSF added.
Before taking the helm of the RSF, from 2008 to 2012, Deloir headed the Center for the Training of Journalists (Centre de Formation des Journalistes - CFJ) in Paris, one of the leading schools of journalism in France.
Deloir worked for the magazine Poen (Le Point) from 1998 to 2007, in the newsroom for society and politics as an investigative reporter. Previously, he worked for the television channels ARTE and TF1.
Founded in 1985 in France, RSF has become a leader in media freedom and the right to information around the world.
This non-governmental organization operates on all continents with offices in a dozen cities and a network of collaborators in around 130 countries.
RSF detects and condemns threats to freedom of information and provides assistance to imprisoned or threatened journalists in various ways - legal aid, equipment for war reporting, scholarships, pressure on states and institutions.
In recent years, she has intensively searched for the truth about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Since 2002, RSF has published an annual report on the abuse of journalists and a ranking list of media freedom in 180 countries. This world ranking is a reference for many media and international institutions.
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