118 international journalists killed in 2014: Press group

 - At least 118 journalists have been killed in targeted killings, bomb attacks or shootings around the globe in 2014, a rise from 105 last year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says.

The number does not include the 17 journalists who died in accidents or natural disasters while on assignment, the Brussels-based IFJ stated on Tuesday.

The most dangerous countries for the media were Pakistan and Syria, where 14 and 12 journalists were killed respectively.

The figure shows the rising threats to journalists, the IFJ noted, calling on governments to do more to protect media staff.

“It is time for action in the face of unprecedented threats to journalists who are targeted not only to restrict the free flow of information, but increasingly as leverage to secure huge ransoms and political concessions through sheer violence,” IFJ President Jim Boumelha said.

Press TV also lost its correspondent Serena Shim this year. She died in a car accident in October as she was on a working mission in Turkey to cover the war in the Syrian town of Kobani. Shim, an American citizen of Lebanese origin, was going back to her hotel from a report scene in the city of Suruç in Turkey’s Urfa Province when the car she was in collided with a heavy vehicle.

Maya Naser, another Press TV correspondent, was also killed at the hands of the militants in Syria in September 2012. He was shot and killed by a sniper while reporting on air.

Source http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/12/31/392576/118-journalists-killed-in-2014/