Reporters Without Borders has released a report in which the group ranked 139 nations based on their commitment to freedom of the press in deed, not just in word. I think few would be surprised that Burma, China and North Korea are at the bottom of the list, but I was quite surprised that the UK was 29th, below Costa Rica and Benin. Is this because of the Official Secrets Act? UK members, I would be interested in your take on this. Peace. __________________ Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him. -- King Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993)
booyah, Unregistered! Guess whose favourite country ranks just above the US? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Oh, and I always thought it was Reporters Sans Frontières... I'll draw ya'll up a list of newspapers from both political opinions from 5 at the head of the list... Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Canada. Oh, I'll also look for news from the 5 at the bottom. CHINA should be easy, Chinese newspapers are largely online nowadays. NORTH KOREA should be harder to find, less web presence. BURMA-- not sure. Maybe it will be easy, maybe not. Turkmenistan-- not sure. Bhutan should have a newspaper or two online. So I'll get back t'ya'll!
I'm surprised the U.S. scored as high as 17. That must mean that the press in most of the other countries in the world are more manipulated than the national press in the U.S., which is owned entirely by a handful of people who are inextricably linked with the corporate/government. That's not good for the world. A free press is integral to the development of a free nation. If the press is owned by the corporations that own the government, then that is a conflict of interest and truth is the first casualty. Then rights. Then liberty. A free press is needed to act as a balance of power against the oligarchs or they will dominate society and kill whoever gets in the way of their accruing power. To be a member of the press is a vocation as well as a job. To be a member of the press is to accept the responsibility for reporting the truth to people who would otherwise receive only propaganda. The fate of millions of people and, indeed, of history often turn on how the truth is presented to the populace. If reporters don't respect that committment to a social value that surpasses greed and manipulation, then they are not really reporters but are merely pawns of evil.
Australia did ok I guess. Freedom of the press in limited here not by our government, but by the general public, by political correctness.
I can't find the actual article, but I think Sweden, Norway and Finland tied for first. Canada came in fifth. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! While the US may have more press freedom than most of the world, they do abysmally compared to most industrialised nations, with notable exceptions like Italy (which was 50th).
I linked to the article - click on "Reporters Without Borders" in the quoted text. Sorry for not making that more obvious. Peace.
I notice that the UK is down to 22 no surprise there then! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!