The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says no fewer than 363 reporters are languishing in several prisons across nations of the world as of December 1, 2022.

This is according to CPJ’s latest prison census report.

CPJ says the record is staggeringly high compared to its 2021 report where 302 journalists had been jailed.

Top five nations notorious for jailing reporters are Iran, China, Myanmar, Turkey, and Belarus where their governments had acquired an ominous reputation for their efforts in silencing the media.

“A key driver behind authoritarian governments’ increasingly oppressive efforts to stifle the media: trying to keep the lid on broiling discontent in a world disrupted by COVID-19 and the economic fallout from Russia’s war on Ukraine,” CPJ Editorial Director Arlene Getz wrote.

“The record number of journalists in jail is a crisis that mirrors an erosion of democracy globally,” asserted CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg. “This year’s prison census brings into sharp relief the lengths governments will go to silence reporting that seeks to hold power to account.”

Ms Ginsberg maintained that incarcerating journalists had dire consequences whose impact extends beyond the jail.

“Criminalizing journalism has impacts far beyond the individual in jail: it stifles vital reporting that helps keep the public safe, informed, and empowered.”