Murder kills more reporters than war in Iraq: CPJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Murder has overtaken war as the leading killer of journalists in Iraq, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday, in a study compiled for the third anniversary of the war.

Cross-fire and other acts of war previously had been considered the leading cause of death of journalists and media support workers in Iraq, but the dangers have shifted, the CPJ said.

In the past 10 days alone, suspected insurgents have murdered three Iraqi journalists and one media support worker, the CPJ said, raising the death toll to 67 journalists and 24 media support workers killed since the war began on March 20, 2003.

The New York-based CPJ called the Iraq war the deadliest conflict for the media in recent history, while the international Reporters Without Borders puts the death toll at 83 and says the war in Iraq has killed more than the Vietnam War.

Both groups consider the protection of journalists crucial to informing the public about the conflict.

"The killings offer a chilling snapshot into recent trends. Iraqis constitute nearly 80 percent of journalists and support staffers killed for their work in Iraq," CPJ said in a statement. "Overall, 60 percent of the journalists and support workers killed in Iraq were targeted for assassination."

Link Here