The murder of Kenji Goto highlights the dangers facing freelance journalists around the globe who bravely report from the world's most dangerous conflict zones — but without the institutional backup enjoyed by full-time reporters at mainstream media organizations.

Goto was a part of this loose, worldwide fraternity, and the Rory Peck Trust, a London-based group that provides support to freelance journalists and their families, had called for his release. The trust was set up in 1995 in memory of freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed in Moscow in 1993.

Early Sunday the organization said on its website that it was "deeply saddened and shocked by the killing" at the hands of the extremist Islamic State group.