One of Mexico's most celebrated reporters was shot dead in broad daylight on Monday, ambushed in the state of Sinaloa while driving through the streets of his hometown.

Javier Valdez Cardenas, who won the Committee to Protect Journalists' international press freedom award in 2011, died when gunmen opened fire on his car around noon.

Mr Valdez, 50, was born, lived and died in the city of Culiacan. The state of Sinaloa is the base of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel, and has seen a surge in violence since his arrest, as rival members of his gang vie to wrestle control.

"Living in Sinaloa is a threat, and being a journalist is an additional threat," said Mr Valdez, when asked in 2011 about his work. "We learned how to live in times when bullets are flying around us."

Reporters without Borders currently ranks Mexico as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, with nine media professionals murdered in 2016 alone.

Mr Valdez was interviewed by Fox News last month, when Miroslava Breach became the 30th journalist murdered in the country since 2012.