Wars and elections main threats to journalists

NEW YORK: Watchdog groups say 2009 was one of the most dangerous years for journalists, especially those covering wars and elections, including the largest massacre of media workers ever killed in one day.

Reporters Without Borders said 76 journalists were killed in 2009 - 30 of them in a single incident, covering an election on the Philippine's Mindanao Island.

According to another watchdog group, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a total of 137 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2009, making one of the worst on record for the deliberate killing of reporters and media staff.