65 journalists and media workers killed globally in 2017: RSF

Among them were 50 professional reporters, the lowest toll in 14 years. However, the downward trend is due at least in part to journalists giving up working in the world's deadliest spots.

War-torn Syria remains the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, RSF said, with 12 reporters killed, followed by Mexico where 11 were assassinated.

They included Javier Valdez, one of the most prominent chroniclers of Mexico's deadly drug war, whose murder in May sparked a public outcry.

The 50-year-old AFP contributor was shot dead in broad daylight in the street in the violent northwestern state of Sinaloa.

His last book, "Narco-journalism", recounted the tribulations of Mexican reporters who try to cover the country's extremely violent "narcos" drug cartels.

RSF said Mexico was the deadliest country not at war, saying those who "cover political corruption or organised crime are often systemically targeted, threatened and gunned down."

The Philippines has become Asia's most dangerous country for reporters, with at least five journalists being shot in the last year, four of whom died of their injuries.

The rise comes after what RSF called an "alarming comment" by President Rodrigo Duterte who said in May that "just because you're a journalist you are not exempted from assassination if you're a son of a bitch."