was a Japanese TV

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaki ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, who worked for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

in the 1990s, and who reported for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

television for more than 15 years. Muramoto was based in Reuters'

bureau. Muramoto was the first reporter killed during the 2010 Thai street protests. Photojournalist Fabio Polenghi died in another demonstration on May 19, 2010.

Career

A graduate of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

(Japan Campus), Muramoto worked at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and then ABC. He joined Reuters as a freelance cameraman in 1992 and became full-time in 1995. During his time with Reuters, he traveled to high-risk areas

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(during political instability). He also covered human-interest stories such as ''Tokyo monkey-waiters'' and ''the man who married a character from a video game''. Also active in charity projects, Muramoto walked 100 km in two days in the areas around

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

to raise money for

impoverished Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

communities in Africa. His plan was to attend this walk for a third time starting April 22.

Death

Muramoto was shot and killed on April 10, 2010, while covering violent clashes during the 2010 Thai political protests between Thai troops and anti-government protesters. Muramoto was filming clashes between protests and government forces on Rajdamnoen Road in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. Muramoto was shot in the chest during the clash. The bullet exited his back, though doctors could not tell what type of bullet. Lisa Twaronite: "The last footage in Hiro's camera, returned to Reuters by the protesters, shows a chaotic scene. Soldiers and another cameraman fled after an explosion, but Hiro kept shooting, backing slowly away. He was killed by a gunshot wound to his chest, with the bullet exiting his body through his back...In order to have functioning markets and a healthy economy, political and social stability is a given. This is why you don't read stories on MarketWatch like "Five best plays in North Korea," or "Where the Sudanese pound is headed next." True stability isn't possible without credible verification -- a government can simply declare business as usual, with everything secure and under control, and events can prove otherwise. That's why general news reporters, photographers and cameramen risk their lives, to document dangerous events as they unfold, and allow the world to see the real situation on the ground. In other words, Hiro died doing a job that made my own job possible." Muramoto was taken to

Klang Hospital ''Klang'' (; ) may refer to: Music *Klang (music), a concept in Riemannian and Schenkerian theories based on the German word ''Klang'', meaning 'resonance' or 'sound * ''Klang'' (Stockhausen) (2004–2007), cycle of compositions by Karlheinz Stock ...

where he was pronounced dead, according to hospital director, Dr. Pichaya Nakwatchara. He was 43 years old and survived by his wife, Emiko, and two children. The Thai military initially claimed to be shooting rubber bullets and tear gas, and only shooting live rounds into the air. However, video footage showed soldiers firing assault rifles in fully automatic fire mode in the direction of protesters. Protest leaders claimed that a number of people were hit by army snipers from nearby buildings.The Australian
Bullets killed Thai red-shirt protesters
13 April 2010 The military later admitted that troops fired live rounds directly at protesters, allegedly shooting only single rounds to protect injured troops retreating from the clashes.Bangkok Post
Military admits firing at reds
15 April 2010

Reactions

Reuters

Editor-in-Chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

David Schlesinger reacted in response to Muramoto's death, "I am dreadfully saddened to have lost our colleague Hiro Muramoto in the Bangkok clashes...

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

can be a terribly dangerous profession as those who try to tell the world the story thrust themselves in the center of the action. The entire Reuters family will mourn this tragedy." A

Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...

spokesperson claimed that protesters had attacked soldiers with

grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...

and

petrol bomb A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flam ...

s before troops responded. The 2010 clashes, which led to calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, have been the worst political violence in Bangkok for 18 years.

Career

Death

Reactions

See also

References

Further reading and resources