The group said 68% were killed outside of war zones this year. That confirms a trend noted by the group since 2016, when only four out of 10 deaths were in countries not at war. Targeted killings of journalists surged in 2020, accounting for 84% of deaths, sharply up from 63% in 2019, the group said. It again listed Mexico as the deadliest country for media workers, counting at least eight journalists killed there in connection with their work in 2020. Reporting on civil unrest also proved particularly deadly, the group said, with seven journalists killed while covering protests — four of them in Iraq, two in Nigeria and one in Colombia.