http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 220 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 8 / 2016 year, 33 journalists who were working for websites were murdered.39 In general, those who publish online (whether they are professionals or not) have become the focus of threats and in the first six months of 2016, more than half of those who died for their work were operating on the internet. Of all those who have been killed for reporting, 62% of them were doing this from one armed conflict or another.40 This situation was inconceivable just a few years ago, and in this respect 2004 was a key year for online journalism when for the first time it became a practice under threat. This shows that such risks adapt to new times and evolve as new wars evolve, unlike the responses provided by instruments designed with civil protection in mind. Warfare is changing, as are the formats and tools used to disseminate information, yet incidents and deaths among reporters persist, albeit adapted to the new backdrops. JOURNALIST INSECURITY AND THE NEVER-ENDING SERCH FOR SOLUTIONS Notwithstanding the fact that the UN General Assembly and the Security Council have been addressing the matter of the safety of journalists working in armed conflict41 practically since the very moment the Geneva Conventions were adopted, the practi-cal results are minimal. Since 1999, the UN Secretary-General42 has drafted reports in order to evaluate the progress made as part of the protection of civilians in times of war with specific references to the situation of journalists, who are seen to be part of the civilian population without treating them any differently, as the problem would seem to necessitate. Although nobody is dismissing their status as civilians, and they are considered as such under Article 79 of the Additional Protocol 1 to the 1949 Ge-neva Conventions, it is clear that reporters carry out very specific work43, as recognised by the main international organisations, which removes them from the classic concept of the civilian population or which at least transforms them into sui generis civilians. This is how they appear in the Commentary, which matter-of-factly considers their nature as a particular type of civilian who, due to their specific function, are subject to a greater level of danger than the rest of the population and for this reason require 39 A/69/268 The safety of journalists and the issue of impunity. Report of the Secretary-General (July 2014) http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/69/268&referer=/english/&Lang=E. 40 https://cpj.org/killed/2016/. 41 http://www.whatsinblue.org/2013/12/arria-formula-meeting-on-protecting-journalists.php. 42 Report of the Secretary General (S/1999/957), presented to the Security Council on 8 September 1999. 43 Security Council Report (July 2013) S/PV.7003 http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/ cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_pv_7003.pdf.
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