More journalists have been killed worldwide this year than in any year since 1994, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent group that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.
The committee's annual report, scheduled to be released yesterday, indicates that 64 journalists died in connection to their work this year.
Nearly half of those deaths, 31, took place in Iraq, which was ranked as the deadliest country for journalists for the fifth consecutive year. Most of the killings this year were targeted attacks, as opposed to deaths caused by crossfire, the committee said.
In Africa, the number of deaths rose to 10 this year from two last year, according to the committee's report.
Somalia, the second-deadliest country this year, accounted for seven of those deaths.
The committee's annual report tallies the deaths of journalists that result directly from combat, violence or a direct reprisal for a journalist's work, like the assassination of the Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink, who was killed in January on a street in Istanbul, Turkey. The report covers the period from Jan. 1 through Monday.
In Iraq, the committee cites "unidentified gunmen, suicide bombers and American military activity" as the main contributors to the deaths.
"Working as a journalist in Iraq remains one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet," said Joel Simon, the executive director of the committee, which is based in New York. "These journalists gave their lives so that all of us could be informed about what is happening in Iraq."
A mounting problem in Iraq is that international news agencies are circumventing their limited mobility by passing dangerous assignments to nonprofessionals who lack proper training, said Tala Dowlatshahi of Reporters Without Borders, another group that promotes press freedom.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, all but one of the 31 victims in Iraq were Iraqi citizens, and nine of them worked for international news outlets. Since the war began in March 2003, 124 journalists and 49 support staff members have been killed in Iraq, the committee said.
In Africa, border disputes and tribal conflicts have created an increasingly dangerous climate for journalists.
Reporters Without Borders' index for this year said Eritrea replaced North Korea as the worst country for press freedom.
Three Mexican journalists were killed this year, all of whom were reporting on ties between drug traffickers and the nation's police force and government, according to the committee.
The 64 worldwide deaths cited by the Committee to Protect Journalists are eight more than last year, and the second-highest number since the committee started tracking deaths in 1981. The most lethal year was 1994, when conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia and Algeria contributed to the deaths of 66 journalists.
In a separate tally, the committee counted 20 killings of news media staff members, such as translators, guards and drivers, this year.
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