65 Journalists Killed Worldwide in 2017

A total of 65 journalists were killed around the world in a year seen as the least deadly for reporters in 14 years, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In its annual report published on Tuesday, the France-based media watchdog noted a fall in the death toll from last year’s 79 journalists killed, Al Jazeera reported. In this year’s count, 39 were murdered and deliberately targeted because of their reporting, while 26 were victims of conflict. “Even though we have fewer number of killed journalists, the situation on the ground has not improved, unfortunately,” Alexandra El Khazen, head of the group’s Middle East desk, told Al Jazeera. “We are still very concerned even though the figures are less alarming than they were last year,” she said by phone from Paris. For the sixth consecutive year, Syria was the deadliest country for journalists with 12 killed, followed closely by Mexico at 11.