Reporters Without Borders, which this week called on Philippine authorities to investigate the fatal shooting of a local newspaper publisher in Virac, has launched a fundraising campaign in which children face the risks of becoming a journalist.
The death of Larry Que, publisher of Catanduanes News Now newspaper, brings to 74 the total of journalists who have died this year because of their work, the group says.
RSF now counts citizen journalists, and says that of the total, 57 were professionals and nine citizen journalists, while eight media contributors were also killed.
Que was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle as he was about to enter his office on Monday, and died of injuries in hospital. RSF says that while he was the first journalist to be murdered in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as president on June 30, it continues to be one of the world's most dangerous countries for media personnel. It ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index earlier this year.
"The situation of journalists in the Philippines is extremely worrying and we urge the Duterte administration to open an immediate investigation into Larry Que's murder so that it does not go unpunished," RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said.
A new fundraising campaign video, 'When I grow up' presents children who want to become journalists with words detailing what might be their fate.
Of the 74 who died, 57 were professional and nine citizen journalists, while eight media contributors were killed.
The number is down from the 101 who died in 2015 with the report attributing the decline to several countries simply becoming too lawless for journalists to enter, while "terror imposed by press freedom predators" was also responsible.