A total of 68 journalists were killed worldwide in 2009, the highest annual toll ever recorded, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.
The figure rose dramatically with the killing of more than 30 media workers in the November 23 election-related massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, the CPJ said in a statement published on Thursday.
The previous highest toll was recorded in 2007, with 67 journalist deaths caused by an upsurge in violence in Iraq, the organization said. Last year, 42 media workers were killed around the world.
Russia, where three journalists were killed in 2009, has the fifth highest toll, after Somalia (nine deaths), Iraq (four) and Pakistan (four).
Chechen rights activist Natalya Estemirova, who had been investigating kidnappings and disappearances in Chechnya for the Russian human rights group Memorial, was abducted and murdered on July 15 in the south Russian republic. She was included in the ...