Less journalists killed worldwide this year compared to 2009

BEIJING - There has been a drop in the number of reporters killed worldwide in 2010 than in the previous year, but media advocacy groups have said that while the number of deaths in war zones have decreased, criminals and traffickers have become a greater threat to journalists.

The China Daily quoted a Paris-based media advocacy group ‘Reporters Without Borders’ as saying that 57 reporters were killed around the world this year, down 25 percent from 2009, when 76 journalists were killed in connection with their jobs.

The record numbers of deaths were high in 2009 because of a massacre in the Philippines that saw over two dozen of journalists and their staff gunned down.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Brussels-based International Federation for Journalists said that 94 journalist and other media personnel were killed in 2010, down from 139 in 2009. The federation count includes other employees of media organizations such as drivers, cameramen or producers.

The insurgency in Pakistan claimed the most victims in 2010, according to both groups. Other dangerous beats included the drug war in Mexico and political unrest in Honduras. Iraq, the Philippines, and Somalia also ranked high. (ANI)