82 journalists killed worldwide this year – report

A total of 82 journalists have been killed worldwide so far this year in the pursuit of their jobs, with Mexico being the world's most dangerous country for media professionals, the director of an international press organization said Sunday, according to CNA.

The situation is bleak in general regarding the improvement of press freedom around the world, said Alison Bethel McKenzie, director of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), said at the opening of the 2011 IPI World Congress in Taipei.

At least 10 journalists have been killed in Mexico, which is battling powerful drug gangs, McKenzie said to an audience of more than 300.

Meanwhile, because the Middle East and North Africa have been in the global media spotlight as people stood up to overthrow dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, that region "has proven deadly for journalists," she said.

Some 22 journalists have lost their lives in the region so far this year, compared with eight in 2010, she said.

“Although the region has, overall, a relatively low death toll for journalists so far this year -- with two killed in Russia, it saw ongoing harassment of journalists in countries like Turkey and Belarus. Impunity in attacks on journalists remains a major issue from Russia to the Balkans … amid a continued climate of repression,” the director said.