VITAMEDIAS
46 media workers lost their lives in 2002: Forty-six journalists and other media workers were killed because of their work in the past year, according to a report released Monday by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.
"The media continued to pay a heavy price in 2002 for reporting the truth," Joel Ruimy, the group's executive director, said in a news release. This year saw a decline over the previous year in the number of media workers killed. In 2001, the group recorded 57 journalists who lost their lives worldwide.
Nearly a quarter of the journalists' deaths worldwide occurred in Colombia this year, according to the report. Ten media workers lost their lives in that country in 2002.
Russia was the second most dangerous country, according to the report, with seven journalists dying there in 2002. Three journalists were killed in each of India, Mexico, Nepal, the Palestinian Territories and the Philippines.