According to Paris-based media watchdog group, Reporters Without Borders, 2007 was the deadliest year for the media in more than a decade, with at least 86 journalists killed around the world. Additionally, 67 journalists were kidnapped and 135 were held hostage.

The highest number of journalists killed was in Iraq, with all but one of the 47 reporters being Iraqi nationals-most of them "deliberately targeted," the group said. The only foreigner was a Russian reporter.

"No country has ever seen more journalists killed than Iraq," the report said. "At least 207 media workers have died in the country since the United States-led invasion in 2003." Other increasingly dangerous countries from which to report were Pakistan and Somalia.

Another media watchdog, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, put the number of media workers killed in 2007 at 134. Their figure included journalists and those that assist them.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which uses stricter definitions, said in December that 64 journalists in 17 countries were killed in 2007.

The findings of the report represent a 244 percent increase since 2002. The death toll is the highest since 1994 when 103 journalists were killed around the globe.