One would think Putinistan would rate quite highly, and it does, but Iraq is the worst place in the world for bringing the murderers of journalists to justice, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists' study Getting Away with Murder.

The list of the 13 worst from CBC.ca:

• Iraq: 79 unsolved journalist murders in a total population of 28 million (rate of 2.82 murders per million people).
• Sierra Leone: 9 murders among 5.5 million people (rate of 1.64).
• Somalia: 5 murders among 8.2 million people (rate of 0.61).
• Colombia: 20 murders among 45.6 million people (0.44).
• Sri Lanka: 8 murders among 19.6 million people (0.41).
• Philippines: 24 murders among 83.1 million people (0.29).
• Afghanistan: 7 murders among 25.1 million people (0.28).
• Nepal: 5 murders among 27.1 million people (0.19).
• Russia: 14 murders among 143.1 million people (0.10).
• Mexico: 7 murders among 103.1 million people (0.07).
• Bangladesh: 8 murders among 141.8 million people (0.06).
• Pakistan: 8 murders among 155.8 million people (0.05).
• India: 5 murders among 1,094.6 million people (0.01).

From the BBC:

An annual survey of media freedom has reported a mixed picture in East Asia - with some losses and some gains.

The US-based Freedom House organisation says China tightened some restrictions in 2007, but also tolerated more investigative journalism into cases of official corruption.

The report noted gains last year in Thailand and Malaysia, but said Vietnam and Laos continue to fare poorly.

It ranked North Korea as the world's most restricted media environment.

Here's Freedom House's Freedom of the Press 2008 Survey Release.

You can find Freedom House's findings on Canada on page 40 of the Draft Country Reports.

Canada scored 18, the U.S. 17. Finland and Iceland, the media freedom havens, scored nine each.

In comparison, Turkmenistan scored 96, Uzbekistan 92. But if you crave media freedom, North Korea is not the place for you. It scored 98, the worst ranking of any country in the world.

This morning, I got a chance to interview BBC journalist Alan Johnston -- someone I thought I'd never meet in person. Someone that I thought at some points would probably not survive his captivity last year at the hand of militant Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

Anyway, after I was done with the official questions, I let it slip that I had blogged extensively about his case, from the time he went missing until he was freed and beyond (if you don't believe me, look here). I even had up the "Free Alan Johnston" button on my blog.

At this news, his pupils dilated and his body jolted. And then his face broke out in a big smile, and he said, "Oh! Thank you so much!"

Here's another snippet from my CTV.ca story. The set-up is that Johnston's captors gave him a radio, and through that, he was able to hear messages from Brian Keenan and Terry Waite, two fellow Britons who had spent years as hostages in Lebanon in the late 1980s:

"Brian Keenan said things I desperately wanted to hear at that time. He said, 'Hundreds of thousands of people are lighting a candle for you. We are waiting, and we shall not walk away.' And I paced up and down my cell, repeating that again and again and again."

Needless to say, I'm gratified to learn of his obvious and genuine gratitude (almost 10 months after the fact) for what little I did.

If you ever signed the online petition, blogged about Johnston's case in your own little patch of cyberspace -- or even just read about him here and sent him a silent good wish -- I'm sure he'd shake your hand and thank you as well (he seemed like a very decent fellow).

There's a lot of nastiness and injustice in the world, and it can be overwhelming. But when you see a case that strikes a chord with you, please don't stay silent about it. You might never get cross paths with the person you're trying to help, get a direct thanks or even have them learn about your efforts, but I'm sure they will be grateful all the same.

From CTV.ca:

For BBC journalist Alan Johnston, his time as a captive in the Gaza Strip reminds him of the adage that freedom is like air -- you only really notice it when it's gone.

"I had taken everyday freedoms of life completely for granted, as we all do, and I only really noticed their catastrophic loss when they were gone," he told CTV.ca on Wednesday.

"It's a sad thing, but I think you have to have been a prisoner of some kind, your freedom has to have been taken from you completely, for you to completely understand its importance and value and beauty."