Also high on the list of deadly sites: Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Mexico, which, for the second year in a row, topped the list as the most dangerous place in the Americas. A Bad Guys salute goes to the government of Cuba, which, with 25 journalists imprisoned, is the biggest jailer of reporters in the hemisphere.

The year's lowlights included the murder of famed reporter Anna Politkovskaya, one of 43 journalists killed in Russia since 1997. (Most of their cases remain unsolved.) Then there was the at-times-violent reaction to the publishing of Danish cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammad, which led to journalists being arrested and prosecuted–and in Sudan, even murdered.

So how are we doing this year? Lousy. The IPI runs a grim "Death Watch" that tracks the killing of journalists worldwide. Looks as if we're heading toward another of the bloodiest years on record. Used to be that wearing a "Press" badge gave journalists some protection, even in a war zone. Those days are gone.