Two reporters a week killed in 2010: INSI

Pakistan deadliest of countries examined, accounting for 16 deaths, followed by Mexico and Honduras with 10 deaths.

LONDON: Ninety-seven journalists died worldwide last year as a result of their work, an average of almost two a week, the International News Safety Institute said on Wednesday.

Pakistan was the deadliest of the 30 countries examined, accounting for 16 deaths, followed by Mexico and Honduras with 10 deaths each, and Iraq with six fatalities.

Of the total, 85 reporters were murdered, the London-based INSI said. The rest either died in crossfire or in accidents, including a cameraman in Guatemala who was hit by lava and rocks as he tried to film a volcanic eruption.

"It is a terrible price to pay for our news," said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.

"Most of the victims were not foreign correspondents assigned to war zones but reporters working in their own countries, seeking to expose criminality and corruption."

The global number was down from 133 deaths in 2009.

Pakistan was also named the most dangerous country for journalists last year by Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which is an INSI member but uses different criteria to record deaths.