nomadlab writes "It is a bad year to be a journalist.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has released a very troubling report. Some of the main findings are:

* total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed. The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed in the line of duty covering the US-led military campaign. Most of the journalists killed, however, were not covering conflicts but were murdered in reprisal for their reporting on sensitive topics including official crime and corruption in countries such as Bangladesh, China, Thailand, and Yugoslavia.

* After four years of steady decline, the number of journalists in prison jumped nearly 50 percent - from 81 in 2000 to 118 in 2001.

* Governments around the world invoked "national security" concerns while seeking new restrictions on the press or unleashing new intimidations in countries like Zimbabwe, where journalists were denounced as "terrorists." As justification, some cited U.S. actions after September 11, such as the State Department's attempt to censor a Voice of America interview with Taliban leader Mullah Omar.