2012 Deadliest Year For Journalists On Record: UN

2012 has been the deadliest year for journalists in recent memory, a new report and the United Nations both claimed last week.

The International Press Institute wrote last week that at least 119 journalists have been killed over the course of the year. That's the highest number since the organization started tracking the killing of reporters in 1997.

The report came as the UN sounded the alarm about the targeting of journalists. On November 23rd, UNESCO held a meeting on "The Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity" in Vienna. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova also said that the number of reporters killed made 2012 "the deadliest year for the media since UNESCO began keeping records on the killings of journalists."

The IPI said that the deadliest place for journalists has been Syria, where it counted 36 deaths. These have ranged from high-profile journalists like Anthony Shadid and Marie Colvin to local reporters.

The IPI also singled out Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines as dangerous places for reporters. Its report was published just as three Palestinian journalists were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, highlighting the peril reporters face in conflict zones.