An international journalists' group says it has confirmed the deaths of 129 journalists around the world last year, making 2004 one of the deadliest on record for the media.
In a report issued Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists says many journalists around the world have been "targeted, brutalized and done to death by the enemies of press freedom."
The report singles out Iraq, where more than 20 journalists were killed last year, and the Philippines, where 13 lost their lives under violent circumstances. It also criticizes the failure of governments worldwide to investigate journalists' killings.
The group says it expects the number of journalists killed in 2004 to rise further as more information becomes available. It says the worst year was 1994, when 157 journalists were killed.
