Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says 65 professional journalists, citizen-journalists, and media workers were killed across the world in 2017, representing an 18 percent fall from last year’s figure.
Among them were 50 professional reporters, the lowest toll in 14 years, according to annual figures published by the Paris-based media watchdog on December 19.
RSF says that the downward trend may be because journalists are being better trained and protected for war zones.
The drop is also due to reporters “abandoning countries that have become too dangerous" or “choosing to switch to a less dangerous profession,” it adds.
Of the 65 slain journalists, the report says 39 were murdered and deliberately targeted, while the others were “collateral victims of a deadly situation such as an air strike, an artillery bombardment, or a suicide bombing.”
War-torn Syria remains the most dangerous country for journalists, with 12 reporters killed in 2017. In neighboring Iraq, eight journalists were killed.
With 11 journalists assassinated this year, Mexico is the deadliest country not at war. RSF says that those who cover political corruption or organized crime there are “often systemically targeted, threatened, and gunned down."
In Afghanistan, two professional journalists and seven media workers were killed in three separate attacks. One attack targeted the local headquarters of the national radio and TV broadcaster in the eastern city of Jalalabad in May. The two other attacks occurred in the capital, Kabul, in May and November.
RSF says a total of 326 professional journalists, citizen-journalists, and media workers were detained worldwide in connection with the provision of news and information as of December 1. That is fewer than in 2016, when 348 journalists were detained.
Outside the Middle East, the only country with hostages is Ukraine, where RSF says Russia-backed separatists “tend to regard the few remaining critical journalists as spies.”
The group says China remains the world’s biggest prison for journalists, all categories combined, as the government “continues to improve its arsenal of measures for persecuting journalists and bloggers.”
However, Turkey is the world's biggest prison for professional journalists, with 42 reporters and one media worker behind bars, according to RSF.
"Criticizing the government, working for a 'suspect' media outlet, contacting a sensitive source or even just using an encrypted messaging service all constitute grounds for jailing journalists on terrorism charges," the report says.
Syria and Iran were the other top jailers of journalists, with 24 and 23 of them languishing in prison, respectively.
In a survey published last week, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the number of journalists in government custody on December 1 hit another new record.
The census, which did not account journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year, found 262 journalists behind bars worldwide in relation to their work.
According to RSF, a total of 54 professional journalists, citizen-journalists, and media workers are held hostage worldwide.
In Syria and Iraq, 40 of them continue to be held by the Islamic State and other extremist Islamist groups. In Yemen, Huthi rebels are holding 11 journalists and media workers.
Outside the Middle East, the only country with hostages is Ukraine, where RSF says Russia-backed separatists “tend to regard the few remaining critical journalists as spies.”
Two journalists are currently behind bars in the separatist-held parts of eastern Ukraine, the report says.
“This is far fewer than at the peak near the start of the conflict in 2014, a year when more than 30 journalists were kidnapped,” RSF says. “The decline in the intensity of the fighting, the fact that the front line is now stationary, and the almost complete absence of critical or foreign reporters in the separatist areas have all helped to reduce the practice of hostage-taking.”
RSF says that two journalists who disappeared in Pakistan and Bangladesh during 2017 are still missing.
Pakistani blogger Samar Abbas was abducted in January 2017 and never reappeared, while his family has received no news of him.
Based in Karachi, Abbas founded the Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan, a group that defends human rights and posts independently reported information on its website.