Freedom of the press being suppressed?

Peter Preston, on his Guardian blog, The Observer, denounces the death of 167 journalists in 2006. Preston argues that democracies are supposed to encourage “the free flow of ideas,” but many world leaders, including those on the left who speak out against the forces of corporatism and globalization, like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, stem freedom of the press. With 700 recorded incidents of harassment, violence and intimidation against journalists over the past four years, Preston wants many different voices to be heard in the media, but worries Chavez will succeed in silencing some of his detractors.