Freedom of the Press - a thing of the past?

According to an annual study, worldwide freedom of the press has been reduced for the 7th year in a row. What is disconcerting to me, is that beyond the countries that have, over the past several years, systematically been reducing the ability of real news to circulate among the citizenship and abroad (I'm looking at you, Iran, China, etc), places that have consistently remained completely free to journalists such as Israel, Italy, and Taiwan, have had their rating reduced to "partly free".

In fact, what is of greatest concern to me (because it applies to me!), some countries listed are now also persecuting BLOGGERS! I remember when I started the blog (and a couple I've had before) the fear of how much personal information you can put on the blog. Should you put your last name? How about a picture? How about descriptive detail which may point you out to those that know you? Where is the line? Is it safe? You can tell by my blog where I decided the line of safety is, and I suspect for bloggers in countries less liberal with the media as Canada, even issues such as using their own computer, or the same public computer, may be suspect. It really shows how truly lacking in confidence some country leaders are, that they are so certain that if they allow the media to judge their governments impartially, there would be surely chaos and upheaval. It's just mayhem when people are allowed to think for themselves.

To all the bloggers out there, keep up the fight! We're here for you.