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In terms of the G8 members only Canada and Germany were in the top 20 countries for freedom in the press. The United States scored lower because of three incidents.

The good news is that journalists in North America haven't died on their own soil except for in Mexico where eight journalists have died for writing about the news. Well that's not completely true in the United States a journalist was killed, Chauncey Bailey.

Chauncey Bailey worked mostly on issues of the African-American community. He was an editor-in-chief for five of the San Francisco Bay Area Post newspapers from June 2007 until he was murdered on August 2, 2007. In his 37 year career he as a reporter at the Detroit News and the Oakland Tribune. His murder was described by police as an assassination. The gunman, Devaughndre Broussard said that he was "a good soldier." His reasons for shooting Bailey came down to the journalist's series of articles about Your Black Muslim Bakery and its employees.

The States have also jailed Sami Al-Haj since June 2002 at Gitmo. He is the only journalist to be held at the camp and there are reports that he has been tortured.

"He is completely innocent. He is about as much of a terrorist as my granddad. The only reason he has been treated like he has is because he is an Aljazeera journalist. The Americans have tried to make him an informant with the goal of getting him to say that Aljazeera is linked to al-Qaida."Stafford-Smith

Blogger Josh Wolf was released from prison after 224 days for refusing to turn over a collection of videotapes he recorded during a July 2005 demonstration in San Francisco. He was held longer than any other journalist in U.S. history for protecting source materials.