Last year was the
deadliest year on record for the global media, according to a new report from
Reporters Without Borders.
A record number of media workers were killed -- 63 journalists and five media assistants -- and more than 1,300 were physically attacked or threatened, according to the report released Wednesday, to coincide with National Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Additionally, at least 807 media workers were arrested on the job.
The organization estimates that more than a third of the world's population lives in countries where press freedom is "minimal."
One of the most dangerous countries for journalists is, of course,
Iraq:
The 23 on-the-job deaths in Iraq in 2005, plus six in the first three months of 2006, bring the toll of journalists there to 74 since 2003, according to the Freedom Forum. The organization said that is more than died in either World War II or the conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia.
