Report: Iraq deadliest country for media

NEW YORK, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Iraq topped the list of deadliest countries for journalists for the sixth straight year, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reported.

CPJ said information gleaned from interviews with journalists and regional analysts suggests a lull in violence and a decreased presence of Western media outlets in Iraq led to a major drop in the number of deaths for reporters working in Iraq. But with 11 incidents reported in 2008, Iraq remains one of the deadliest countries since CPJ was founded in 1981.

That number, however, is down considerably from the 32 deaths reported in 2006 and 2007, suggesting general improvements in the Iraqi security situation. CPJ said there were 41 journalists killed on duty in 2008 worldwide, down from 65 in 2007.

The majority of media personnel killed on duty, CPJ said, were local journalists working for other media outlets, both local and international.

The Iraqi conflict proved one of the deadliest recent conflicts for journalists, with 136 journalists and 51 other media personnel killed since the U.S. invasion of 2003.

CPJ said a compendium of journalists killed in conflict zones in 2008 would be available at the end of January.