Worldwide index of press freedom: US surprisingly low

[Dutchy]

The first worldwide index of press freedom (http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116)


The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

Rank Country Note
1 Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Norway 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50 :)
5 Canada 0,75
6 Ireland 1,00
7 Germany 1,50
- Portugal 1,50
- Sweden 1,50
10 Denmark 3,00
11 France 3,25
12 Australia 3,50
- Belgium 3,50
14 Slovenia 4,00
15 Costa Rica 4,25
- Switzerland 4,25
17 United States 4,75
18 Hong Kong 4,83
19 Greece 5,00
20 Ecuador 5,50
21 Benin 6,00
- United Kingdom 6,00
- Uruguay 6,00
24 Chile 6,50
- Hungary 6,50
...
134 Cuba 90,25
135 Bhutan 90,75
136 Turkmenistan 91,50
137 Burma 96,83
138 China 97,00
139 North Korea 97,50

[Sanis Prent]

A statistical fallacy is to ignore the margin between the leaders. From this spread, it sure looks like the US is low. Look again, and see the numbers behind it.

[ReaperFett]

I dont believe that.

[Sanis Prent]

I do...I mean, there is a point where free press is a bad thing (IE, cameras in your showers and whatnot)

[Admiral Lebron]

What do the 4,0; 5,00; etc numbers mean?

[Sejah Haversh]

Finland is also the World's least corrupt country, so, they don't have any problems about having the press al over the place because THERE'S NOTHING TO REPORT!

[Jedi Master Carr]

Here is the reason the US is so low

The poor ranking of the United States (17th) is mainly because of the number of journalists arrested or imprisoned there. Arrests are often because they refuse to reveal their sources in court. Also, since the 11 September attacks, several journalists have been arrested for crossing security lines at some official buildings.

The US would have been higher before 9/11 I gather. Also is Britain so low because of the libel laws?

[ReaperFett]

I dont think 17th is bad btw. You're in the top 1/7 or so. Add the fact that some countries have nothing happening.


And to me, it all seems based on the opinions on those asked.

[Darth23]

Not so great for a country that basically co-opts the term "Freedom" like it was its own personal Brand.

[JonathanLB]

I have a lot of problems with our government and general situations here, but the press is not one of them. Our press is entirely free. There is not a country on Earth, nor does there exist even a possibility, ever, for any country to have more freedom of press.

Freedom of press only means that people can print whatever they want, which is true. They can. Now common sense dictates that if they want to try to break in, illegally, to places to which they do not have access, then they are going to be arrested. That's not a restriction of freedom, it's a protection of the freedom of the property owners and individuals on whom they are reporting.

The only one thing I will say about "freedom of press" is that you must live with what you say to the press, or what you write in public. I could theoretically come out, like John Rocker, and say I hate so and so ethnic group or whatever, I have that right to say that (speech) and to print it (press), but other people also have the right to think I am a total fool, a biggot, and never read anything I write again. So, freedom of press has some limits, you say? Hehe, no, but with great power (freedom) comes great responsibility. You have the freedom to write whatever you want, but you are accountable, of course, for what you write. So use your freedom wisely.

That's a pretty silly article.

[Darth Viscera]

Originally posted by Darth23
Not so great for a country that basically co-opts the term "Freedom" like it was its own personal Brand.

Taking the troll for a stroll, are we?

[Dutchy]

Originally posted by JonathanLB
I have a lot of problems with our government and general situations here

Care to share? :)

[Sanis Prent]

There is not a country on Earth, nor does there exist even a possibility, ever, for any country to have more freedom of press.


Tell that to the late Princess Di, and her Speedracer Paparazzi in France. Our press is not totally free. This is not a bad thing, guys.

[ReaperFett]

Dont use that as an example. She would often place to the press, so got extra coverage due to this.

[Darth Viscera]

The Manhattan Project. Reporters in the U.S. knew about it, but chose not to print it, because it was vital to national security. 60 years ago, reporters were human. They're not human anymore. If a paper they get their hands on is classified "Top Secret", these days a reporter's reaction is "Boy, what a scoop!".

The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Washington Post had a story ready to go on Sunday that we were invading Cuba. That little nudge would have added an unstable element to a critical situation, and the boys in the Kremlin, eating their sunday morning borscht and drinking their vodka, would have raised the alert status of their armed forces, and we would have been forced to do the same. Kruschev would likely have actually made the call to that Soviet submarine squadron that it had permission to fire on "pirate" U.S. ships with its nuclear-tipped torpedos in the event of a blockade, instead of not informing them. John F Kennedy called up the publisher and begged him to wait until he made his speech on Monday at 7pm, which means no unstable element. The world might have been destroyed on October 23rd 1962 because a reporter had a "scoop". Stranger things have happened in the history of the world, like the skirmisher who disobeyed orders and went too far ahead of the French lines at Poitiers in 732. Turns out he bagged himself the Islamic commanding general, Ab Al Rahman, and so the reason that all of Europe wasn't Islamic during the Middle Ages is because for perhaps several minutes, a skirmisher with spear in hand was disgruntled.

The Serial Sniper. Reporters poked their noses where they didn't belong, and as a result people who should have lived are dead. On 10/20/02, after the police had finally sustained contact with John Muhammad for a sufficient amount of time, Muhammad said, "Just ask the people of Montgomery", and 3 days later he was caught because we were able to get in touch with Alabama. Just imagine if the reporters had not leaked the info about the tarot card or the 3 page letters, had just let it be like the sniper had demanded, and contact had been achieved just a few days earlier. Just 2 days earlier, and a person who is now dead would still be alive.

I'm sorry, but I could have died, just because a reporter wanted to get a "scoop". You can take the immoral, greedy reporters and lock the sunsabitches in the slammer until the end of days for all I care. The front page isn't worth a life, especially mine!

[Jedi Master Carr]

Unfortuntely that is the price we have as a free country, if you allow the press to report what they want then this is what will happen, espeically when money and ratings are at stake. Now if you start restricting the press you take a step closer to facism, which I personally never want, even if it could save lives because in the end I feel more people would die in such of a government.