A press freedom group says at least 60 journalists have been killed this year while on the job, with members of the international press making up a particularly high percentage of the dead.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued its annual report Tuesday documenting journalist deaths in 21 countries in 2014.
It said that local journalists continue to be the most targeted, but that 23 percent of those killed were international journalists. By comparison, the local press makes up 90 percent of the CPJ’s database of journalist deaths dating back to 1992.
The report attributed the uptick to the “increasingly volatile nature of conflict zones in which Westerners are often targeted.”
Syria was by far the most dangerous country for journalists, with 17 deaths this year. Five journalists were killed in both Iraq and Ukraine, while four deaths occurred in Somalia and during the war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The CPJ said 2014 capped a three-year period that has been the deadliest it has ever recorded.
The deaths also included three each in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Paraguay, and the first journalist killing the group has ever documented in the Central African Republic.
The report said 43 percent of the dead were murdered, while 38 percent died in combat or crossfire.
The number of deaths recorded in Syria is downright disturbing. I do not really realize how a journalist could step on the land of death, without thinking about this imminent danger. Although for many people it does not matter, it is indeed a sacrifice from passion for their job.
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