VIENNA – A total of 52 journalists were killed around the world during the first eight months of this year, with Mexico being ranked as the most dangerous nation for members of the media, International Press Institute interim director Alison Bethel McKenzie said Sunday.

“In the first eight months of 2010, 52 journalists were killed because of their work. That’s only four fewer than in the same period last year and it’s 52 too many,” Bethel McKenzie said in her State of Press Freedom Address.

“Last year, 110 journalists lost their lives because of their work and now in 2010 we’re well on our way towards a similarly grim toll,” the IPI interim director said.

Bethel McKenzie delivered her address to the more than 360 journalists, academics and media experts from more than 60 countries attending the opening of the IPI World Congress in Vienna.

“The Americas leads the death toll with 20 journalists killed in the first eight months of 2010. Mexico is currently the most dangerous country for journalists, with 10 journalists having lost their lives since January,” the IPI official said.

“The threat to peace and understanding among nations and peoples is today as great as it was upon IPI’s founding and the threat to press freedom around the world is undiminished,” Bethel McKenzie said.

The Vienna-based IPI, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, is the world’s oldest global press freedom organization.