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Two thousand and eleven proved to be a deadly year for journalists around the world. The Committee to Protect Journalists identified at least 43 members of the press killed worldwide in direct relation to their work. Most deaths occurred in the Middle East, where 18 journalists were killed this year, many while covering the Arab uprisings. Just this past Sunday a leading Somali TV journalist was fatally shot in Mogadishu by a man in a military uniform while on his way to a press conference. On December 15th in Russia’s hostile North Caucasus region, prominent independent journalist Khadzhimurad Kamalov was shot dead by an unknown person while leaving his newspaper offices this month. This year the number of imprisoned reporters is also on the rise. The Committee to Protect Journalists found the number of imprisoned reporters is at its highest level since the mid-1990s and is 20% higher than in 2010. Again the biggest proportion of imprisoned journalists was in the Middle East and North Africa. Journalists are also being swept up as part of anti-terrorism operations. In Turkey on Tuesday, several journalists were detained on allegations of participating in the “press and propaganda wing” of the Kurdish rebel group the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, worrying media and human rights activists in the country. Also this week two Swedish journalists were found guilty of supporting terrorism in an Ethiopian court after being arrested while traveling with rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front. The convictions reportedly shocked the journalists who maintain they did enter Ethiopia illegally, but were investigating illegal acts in the country by a Swedish oil company. They face up to 18 years in prison. Here in the United States, where journalists have enjoyed much freedom and safety, many were arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011. Thirty journalists were arrested in at least 10 cities including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Free Press reports US journalists have been detained by police, physically assaulted and blocked from protest areas. Police have used strobe lights to make filming impossible and prohibited news helicopters from flying above protest sites.

GUEST: Carlos Lauría, the Senior Americas Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists

Visit www.cpj.org for more information.