KARACHI, April 4: The International Federation of Journalists and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists on Wednesday released a report titled `A State of Denial: The Crisis of Press Freedom and Journalist Safety in Pakistan.'

The report contains the findings from a joint international media mission, which also visited Pakistan from February 22 to 25, 2007.

“From the mission's findings, we are calling for immediate local and international action to address this terrible crisis,” said IFJ president Christopher Warren in a statement, adding: “Reporting in Pakistan is now more dangerous than ever.''

Findings from the report reveal the increasing horror faced by Pakistani journalists, in which media restrictions, government intervention, low wages, and even violence and murder are strangling press freedom.

Nineteen journalists are reported to have been killed since 2000, with four murdered last year. Journalists’ families are also paying an untenable price for press freedom, with two cases of the brothers of journalists murdered, the report says.