The report highlights the most dangerous areas of the world for journalists.
(IPI/IFEX) – VIENNA, 11 February 2010 – A total of 110 journalists were killed because of their work in 2009, making last year the most lethal in the past decade for journalists, the International Press Institute (IPI) revealed on Thursday, with the release of its World Press Freedom Review 2009 – Focus on the Middle East & North Africa.
The second-highest figure for the decade was 100, in 2006, during which 46 journalists were killed in Iraq, at the height of violence that engulfed the country following the 2003 invasion.
World Press Freedom Review Managing Editor Anthony Mills said: “This decade is unlike any other, because, in conflict countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Pakistan, it has seen the deliberate targeting of journalists. Such a departure has changed the face of conflict reporting, leading to less coverage and therefore a worrying vacuum in the understanding of these complex events.”