Perilous Times

This isn't good news by any means, but the headline could win a prize for stating the obvious:

Iraq War Leads To Increase In Journalists Killed

The Iraq war pushed the number of journalists killed on the job last year to 36, up sharply from the 19 killed in 2002, according to a report by an organization that monitors international press freedom.

"It was quite a discouraging year," said Ann Cooper, the director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. But 2003 was considerably better than 1994, the worst in the past decade, when 66 newsmen and women were killed.

The CPJ's annual report, "Attacks on the Press," details the state of the press around the world, reporting attacks on individual journalists as well as systematic government interference.

Only 13 of those journalists were actually killed in Iraq. A low number, given the "embedded reporter" concept.

Speaking of embeded reporters, this is baffling:

Citing what it deemed patriotic coverage by the U.S. press during the Iraq invasion, military officials required journalists to report news "with the spirit of capitalism," Mrs. Cooper said.

Is the "spirit of capitalism" bad? How about the "spirit of communism":

While the world was busy watching the fall of Baghdad, 29 journalists in Cuba were sentenced to between 14 and 27 years in prison. "There was a terrible crackdown in Cuba that happened almost opportunistically by Fidel Castro," Mrs. Cooper said.

And

With 39 journalists in prison in 2003, China was the leading jailer of journalists for the fifth year in a row.

That last bit from CPJ's website.