At least 63 reporters across the world were killed while carrying out their professional duties in 2018 — a 15% increase over last year, according to the journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
The world’s top five deadliest places for journalists are Afghanistan, Syria, India, Mexico and — for the first time — the United States, NBC News reported.
“The hatred of journalists that is voiced … by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists,” the group’s Secretary-General, Christophe Deloire, said in a statement.
The murders of Saudi-American columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, and the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, that claimed the lives of five, were among the most prominent media murders this year.
Reporters Without orders also found that the current number of detained journalists around the world — 348 — is up from 326 in 2017. More than half of them are being held in China, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
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