The International News Safety Institute, INSI, said April was the bloodiest month for media in five years, with 17 journalists losing their lives, a rate of two every three days. Yet in eight out 10 cases in recent years, no one had been brought to justice for journalists' deaths, the London-based group said in its report.

"This is a stark reminder of the price we pay for our news around the world," said Rodney Pinder, director of the INSI, which runs safety courses across the world and is supported by major news organizations, including Reuters.

Most deaths were among local journalists covering sensitive stories like high-level crime and corruption for national media. In at least 27 cases this year, the journalist's death was proven to be linked to his or her work.

Seven journalists have been killed in Honduras so far this year, six in Mexico and four in Pakistan, the report showed. Three died in Colombia and Nigeria, and one each in Nepal, Venezuela, Cyprus, Russia, Ecuador and Turkey, among others.

The INSI released the figures just before World Press Freedom Day, marked under the umbrella of the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO on May 3.

Reuters