Syria conflict one factor behind deadly year for media workers, with death toll up 13% on 2011 figure of 107

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

More than 120 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2012, with the conflict in Syria making it one of the bloodiest in recent years.

The International Federation of Journalists said there has been a total of 121 deaths among media personnel from targeted killings, bomb attacks and cross-fire incidents in 2012.

This is up 13% on the 107 killed in 2011 and 22% on the 94 that died in 2010. In 2009 113 media personnel were killed.

The IFJ said that Syria was the most dangerous country in the world for media personnel this year, with 35 fatalities recorded. Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin was killed in the conflict there in February.

It was followed by Somalia, which the IFJ called a "media killing field" with 18.

Organised crime in Mexico and insurgents in Pakistan led to 10 journalist deaths in each country, making them joint third.

The Philippines and Iraq each accounted for five deaths.

The IFJ said that the "constant finding" in its annual report was that journalists are being deliberately targeted "with the clear intention to silence them".

"The death toll for 2012 is another indictment of governments which pay lip service to the protection of journalists, but have consistently failed to stop their slaughter," said Jim Boumelha, president of the IFJ.

Bouhmelha renewed the IFJ's call for the United Nations and governments to take more action to protect journalists.

"It is no wonder that these sky-high numbers of killed journalists have become a constant feature in the last decade, during which the usual reaction from government and the United Nations has been a few words of condemnation, a cursory inquiry and a shrug of indifference," he said.

The National Union of Journalists backed the IFJ's call for action.

"Journalists from Britain and Ireland have been among the victims of the failure of governments and the United Nations to protect and enforce the basic right to life of our colleagues while going about their work," said Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ.

"It is important that the public – and the governments which are meant to serve the public will – recognise that the killing of journalists is an attack on the decisive role of the work they do and on the free flow of vital information which can help shape a better world."

The IFJ said that there have also been 30 media personnel deaths classified as "accidental and illness related".

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