The former editor of the Ming Pao newspaper in Hong Kong is in a critical condition after being stabbed.
The UK and US have slipped down the press freedom index after a year in which the US government has sought to prosecute whistleblowers and sent Chelsea Manning to jail, and the UK government have taken angle-grinders to harddrives containing information from Edward Snowden.
Senior politicians are reported to have rejected the newspaper-backed plan for press regulation, claiming that the proposals were flawed and lacking independence.
Britain has had a free press for 300 years, and whilst illegal activity at newspapers, such as phone hacking, should be prosecuted under the law, that is not a reason to limit such a basic right as freedom of the press.
The signals are very worrying. Already there were troubling trends in this country: website blocking used frequently and abusively; excessive fines on media outlets; journalists imprisoned.