Fewer journalists killed in 2008

By Anna Willard

PARIS (Reuters) - Fewer journalists were killed this year doing their jobs than in 2007 due to a big fall in the number of deaths in Iraq, a media watchdog said on Tuesday.

Sixty journalists around the world died in 2008 down from 86 in 2007, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in an annual report, adding that the decline in fatalities did not signal an improvement in global press freedom.

"The figures may be lower than last year's, but this should not mask the fact that intimidation and censorship have become more widespread, including in the West," the RSF report said.

"The quantitative improvement in certain indicators is often due to journalists becoming disheartened and turning to a less dangerous trade or going into exile," it added.

Iraq remained the deadliest country for reporters with 15 deaths over the past 12 months, but that was down significantly from 47 in 2007 and 46 in 2006.

Although violence has dropped sharply in Iraq five years after a U.S.-led invasion, car bombs, suicide attacks and assassinations are still routine.

After Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines and Mexico were the most dangerous countries for reporters, while the death toll in Africa dropped from 12 in 2007 to 3 in 2008.

RSF said this was because many journalists there had simply stopped working, with news media gradually halting coverage of war zones such as Somalia."