Killings of journalists rising in 2010, group says

Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger (L) delivers a speech in front of an altar set up for the late Reuters television cameraman Hiro Muramoto during a funeral in Tokyo April 18, 2010.

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 42 journalists around the world have been killed so far this year and governments should take action to protect reporters and bring their killers to justice, a global media protection body said Wednesday.

The International News Safety Institute, INSI, said April was the bloodiest month for media in five years, with 17 journalists losing their lives, a rate of two every three days.

Yet in eight out 10 cases in recent years, no one had been brought to justice for journalists' deaths, the London-based group said in its report.

"This is a stark reminder of the price we pay for our news around the world," said Rodney Pinder, director of the INSI, which runs safety courses across the world and is supported by major news organizations, including Reuters.

"The shocking death toll in April brings this issue into even sharper focus... Each and every case demonstrates a crying need for action, both in the countries concerned and on the world stage."

The worst years for media in recent history were 2007, when 172 journalists were killed, and 2006, when 168 died -- many of them in Iraq at a time of intense sectarian violence.

But while many foreign correspondents were killed during and after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, most deaths were now among local journalists covering sensitive stories like high-level crime and corruption for national media.

Seven journalists have been killed in Honduras so far this year, six in Mexico and four in Pakistan, the report showed.

Three died in Colombia and Nigeria, and one each in Nepal, Venezuela, Cyprus, Russia, Ecuador and Turkey, among others.

In at least 27 cases this year, the journalist's death was proven to be linked to his or her work.

The INSI released the figures on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, marked under the umbrella of the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO on May 3.

Paris-based UNESCO has called for a minute's silence in newsrooms around the world on May 3 in honor of the more than 1,500 media workers killed over the past 14 years.

Pinder urged countries where journalists have been killed this year, especially Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia and Nigeria, to conduct full inquiries and bring those responsible to trial.

"We also call on all U.N. member states to join in a global effort to stop the bloodshed and end impunity for the killers of journalists," he said.

(Editing by Lin Noueihed)