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MEDIA WOES: Reporters without Borders' annual report says 86 journalists were killed worldwide in 2007.

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Keywords: CBS, China

Washington: International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday issued its 2008 annual report naming the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.

The report highlights the trouble spots around the globe for journalists covering stories there.

It's a dangerous time for journalists around the world. Iraq is still burying journalists, even five years after the start the war. More danger, more arrests and more deaths — that's the conclusion of Reporters without Borders’ report on press freedom.

The organisation issues its data amidst kidnapping reports of two CBS journalists in Iraq. It says 86 journalists were killed worldwide in 2007 — the highest number since 1994.

Furthermore, Reporters without Borders accuses China of breaking its promise to guarantee press freedom.

“The Chinese government blacklists foreign reporters who have written articles critical of the Chinese government, and will refuse to give them visas,” Chinese journalist He Qinglian says.

But journalists are at risk even in the United States.

Paul Cobb publishes the Oakland Post in California. His editor, Chauncey Bailey, was murdered after investigating a local crime family.

Reporters without Borders says its main concern for this year is elections that will be held in countries whose leaders distrust independent journalists.

The group expects problems, including physical attacks, on journalists during elections in Pakistan, Russia, Iran and Zimbabwe.

The report says the worst country in the world for journalists is the African nation of Eritrea. As an Eritrean reporter who escaped his country put it: "They put fear into your soul so you won't open your mouth."