#WANIndia2009: Eighty-eight journalists killed since January 2009, says new press freedom report

At least 88 journalists have been killed so far this year, according to a press freedom report by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

Announcing its six-monthly review findings ahead of the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009, the organisation said hundreds of journalists have been arrested and jailed since January this year, with 170 currently in jail.

Last week's attack in the Philippines, in which more than 30 journalists were among the 57 murdered, was the 'deadliest single attack on media in memory', it stated.

More than 750 journalists have been murdered world-wide in the past decade, said the report.

• The report can be found at this link
  

• Details of the cases of journalists murdered in 2009
  

Last week, another global organisation, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), launched an urgent appeal for help for journalists in the Philippines.

The IFJ is calling on support for a global day of solidarity on 9 December.

The World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009 summits opened with a moment of silence for the journalists. The murders in the Philippines were 'an act of savagery that has written one of the blackest pages in the history of the world's press,' said Gavin O'Reilly, president of WAN-IFRA.

For more press freedom updates, follow Journalism.co.uk's @press_freedom service on Twitter
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