The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has compared the relative dangers that journalists face around the world and has ranked Nepal seventh from the bottom for the killings of journalists and the lack of prosecution of their murderers.

Rankings of this kind make snappy headlines but mask the qualitatively higher level of intimidation, violence and impunity in various countries, and indeed within countries. These lists, however, do name and shame governments that show a consistent contempt for the values of press freedom and the safety of journalists.

The only positive aspect of the CPJ list from Nepal's point of view is that there are countries worse than us: Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Columbia, the Philippines and Afghanistan. But the great shame about Nepal being in the 'Bottom Ten' is that it needn't be.

It all started out so promisingly three years ago with the ceasefire. And last year's elections was a moral victory of the non-violent struggle for democracy and press freedom. Nepal was the touted as an international role model for conflict transformation.

Yet, more journalists have been killed in the past three years than during the war. Not a single murderer of a Nepali journalist has so far been caught and tried. The side-effect of all this impunity is that self-censorship is now endemic. There is almost no investigative journalism, muckraking has become rare, corruption is almost never covered.

Journalists have learnt the hard way not to write about cross-border crime, or about the way the YCL and other militants control village and district-level bidding process for development work.Self-censorship is much more insidious than overt control. It gives citizens the impression that the media is free when it's not. Ultimately, this undermines democracy and favours those who want total control.

That said, we in the media have to do our own introspection. Media can only protect its freedom by its maximum application. Our obsession with disarray and disorder is turning out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Shallow, sensational and lazy journalism spreads cynicism and perpetuates discord.

The CPJ report puts the spotlight on the Maoist-led government for allowing the media environment to deteriorate so drastically, and will put pressure on it to prove its commitment to press freedom with actions. It also forces us in the media to correct the dampening effect of the high threat level against the media with even more fearless, meaningful and responsible coverage.