More journalists in jail worldwide, but none in the Americas

The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide has jumped by 20 per cent from last year, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. As of Dec. 1, there were 179 writers, editors and photojournalists in jail.

But for the first time since they started compiling annual prison surveys in the ‘90s, the CJP found that there were zero journalists in jail for work-related reasons in the Americas.

The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide has jumped by 20 per cent from last year, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. As of Dec. 1, there were 179 writers, editors and photojournalists in jail.

But for the first time since they started compiling annual prison surveys in the ‘90s, the CJP found that there were zero journalists in jail for work-related reasons in the Americas.

CJP reports the alarming trend that 65 journalists – more than a third of the total in jail worldwide – were “being held without any publicly disclosed charge, many of them in secret prisons without access to lawyers or family members.”

The countries with the most journalists behind bars include Iran, Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria and Turkey.

Below is the CJP's map showing how many journalists were in jail in each country. Check out their detailed report to see the interactive version and a summary of each journalist that has been detained.