Dangers of reporting in Iraq called unprecedented

? American journalists covering Iraq say they face unprecedented dangers with many reporting that they’ve worked closely with Iraqi colleagues who have been killed or kidnapped, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The survey by the Washington-based media watchdog Project for Excellence in Journalism offered a grim picture of reporters trying to work under what they describe as the constant threat of violence and intimidation in Iraq.

Most of the 111 survey participants, veteran war correspondents with experience in Afghanistan, Gaza and Lebanon, called the war in Iraq their most dangerous assignment ever.

Of the 29 American news organizations represented by the reporters, at least one local staff member in 17 of the organizations was killed or kidnapped within the past year, according to project director Tom Rosenstiel.