ANALYSIS | Latin America was “the deadliest region for the press” in 2022, according to an alarming new report

The countries with the most imprisoned journalists, according to an international report 1:08

(CNN) --

It's an increasingly dangerous time to be a journalist.

In its annual report to be released Tuesday morning, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that the number of journalists killed "increased sharply" in 2022, according to an advance copy of the report that checked CNN.

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In all, the press advocacy organization said 67 journalists and other media professionals were killed around the world last year.

That staggering figure is more than double what was reported in 2021, when 28 journalists were killed.

“These numbers point to a precipitous decline in press freedom, with the highest number of journalist murders since 2018,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg.

“Meanwhile, governments continue to jail record numbers of journalists and fail to address the spiral of violence and culture of impunity that have effectively silenced entire communities around the world,” Ginsberg added.

The disturbing report comes on the heels of CPJ's annual prison census, which found a record 363 journalists jailed in 2022. That figure represented a 30-year high, and follows last year's report that also found a record number of private journalists. of his freedom

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Not surprisingly, Ukraine was the deadliest country for journalists in 2022, with 15 members of the press killed in the war-torn country while covering Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion.

That includes Pierre Zakrzewski, a 55-year-old longtime war photojournalist, and Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist, who died last year while covering the war for Fox News.

Mexico: They find two kidnapped journalists in Guerrero 0:26

But, one of the striking points that the report highlights is how dangerous it is currently to practice journalism in Latin America.

CPJ found that despite the war raging in Eastern Europe, Latin America was "the deadliest region for the press" in 2022, with more than 30 journalists killed.

In Mexico, which saw continued attacks on journalists throughout 2022, prompting human rights defenders to express their extreme concern, 13 journalists were killed last year, up from nine in 2021. And in Haiti , seven members of the media were murdered in 2022

"Covering politics, crime and corruption," Ginsberg noted, "can be just as deadly as covering war on a grand scale."