Numbers shot up in the early to mid-90s, when there were civil wars in Algeria, the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. A steady increase then began with the Iraq war in 2003, with the largest number of 155 deaths in 2006, followed by 135 deaths in 2007.

Analysts say last year's lower figure isn't necessarily cause for relief, as there has been a shift in the reasons why journalists have died.

"With the rise of IS across Syria and Iraq, journalists were attacked because they were journalists," Robert Mahoney from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. "They weren't killed in crossfire, they were deliberately targeted."

High profile kidnappings and beheadings of foreign journalists in 2012 onwards sparked a shift in news organisations' policy, with fewer correspondents being sent into danger zones.
---DECRYPTED---