Number of Jailed Journos Soars to 15-Year High

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeReporters, photojournalists and editors worldwide incarcerated for plying their trade totaled 179 as of December 1, the Committee to Protect Journalists("CPJ") reported today, up 34 from 2010, and the highest number recorded by CPJ in the past 15 years.

Roughly half of those jailed are online journalists, and 45 percent are freelancers, according to CPJ. Countries imprisoning the greatest number of journalists include Iran (42), Eritrea (28), China (27), Burma (12) and Vietnam (9), the CPJ reported in a press release. Anti-state charges and violation of censorship rules were cited as the principal bases for jailing journalists.