52 Countries Have More Freedom Of The Press Than Us (1 Viewer)

i really believe our news isnot censored it to me seams its more biased than anything. i believe we will never have an unbiased news media as long as its such a money maker.
 
"Reporters Without Borders" is the"Amenesty International" of news.

It has its roots as a mouthpiece for the socialist and communist movements in France. It is subsidized by the French prime minister's office and various other agencies in the French government.

We're not exactly high on their popularity list.
 
France isn't exactly ranked high, and communist countries don;t fare too well in the rankings either.
 
Check out the sampling group:

The questionnaire was sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19391

The organisation’s initiatives are being carried out on five continents through its national branches (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland) and its offices in Abidjan, Bangkok, New York, Tokyo and Washington.

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=280

NOTE: No national branch inthe U.S.
 
Yeah. so?
No national branch in Cuba either. or Nicaragua. Does that mean they are anti-communist?
And hey, they at least have an office in New York - but nothing in China. Nothing in France either.

And hey Dads - I am not trying to defend this study or anything. These types of studies always seem juvenile to me because they usually focus on some samll standard or standards that rearely gives a complete picture. Just like studies or surveys often posted on here that try to show the "mainstream" media is liberal or something despite being owned by the largest corporations on earth.
 
I perused the site, and this study definitely had a lot of interesting things to say, a lot I agreed with. Especially this part:

"War, the destroyer of press freedom
Lebanon has fallen from 56th to 107th place in five years, as the country’s media continues to suffer from the region’s poisonous political atmosphere, with a series of bomb attacks in 2005 and Israeli military attacks this year. The Lebanese media - some of the freest and most experienced in the Arab world - desperately need peace and guarantees of security. The inability of the Palestinian Authority (134th) to maintain stability in its territories and the behaviour of Israel (135th) outside its borders seriously threaten freedom of expression in the Middle East.
Things are much the same in Sri Lanka, which ranked 51st in 2002, when there was peace, but has now sunk to 141st because fighting between government and rebel forces has resumed in earnest. Dozens of Tamil journalists have been physically attacked after being accused by one side or the other of being biased against them.
Press freedom in Nepal (159th) has shifted according to the state of the fighting that has disrupted the country for several years. The “democatic revolution” and the revolt against the monarchy in April this year led immediately to more basic freedoms and the country should gain a lot of ground in next year’s Index."

Historically speaking, at least in the United States, war has always brought a concomitant growth of the scope and power of the government, and a subsequent intoleration for criticism or questioning of authority.

Makes sense to me.
 
Check out the sampling group:

The questionnaire was sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19391

The organisation’s initiatives are being carried out on five continents through its national branches (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland) and its offices in Abidjan, Bangkok, New York, Tokyo and Washington.

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=280

NOTE: No national branch inthe U.S.

I usually agree with you on most things, DD, but not this time. If they are a mouthpiece of the French government or are influenced by their being based in France, then why has France consistently fallen in the rankings almost as quickly as the United States? If they are unduly influenced by socialism or communism, why do China, Vietnam, and North Korea all rank near the bottom? If they are anti-American, why did the United States come in very high, at 17th, in the first set of rankings five years ago? They acknoweldge that the semi-socialist regime of Hugo Chavez has one of the lower rankings in Latin America, and they still put the United States in the top third of the rankings. Many of the issues the report lists with the United States, such as imprisoning reporters who refuse to reveal their sources, are, in my opinion, egregious attacks on freedom of the press in this country. I think our plummeting ranking is entirely justified, especially when considering the overall erosion of civil liberties under the current U.S. administration.
 
Don't know how the UK made it so high on the list, but outside of them, nobody in front of the US has any military of any sort that may require secrets to be kept.
 
Is this like a power ranking?
 
I usually agree with you on most things, DD, but not this time. If they are a mouthpiece of the French government or are influenced by their being based in France, then why has France consistently fallen in the rankings almost as quickly as the United States? If they are unduly influenced by socialism or communism, why do China, Vietnam, and North Korea all rank near the bottom? If they are anti-American, why did the United States come in very high, at 17th, in the first set of rankings five years ago? They acknoweldge that the semi-socialist regime of Hugo Chavez has one of the lower rankings in Latin America, and they still put the United States in the top third of the rankings. Many of the issues the report lists with the United States, such as imprisoning reporters who refuse to reveal their sources, are, in my opinion, egregious attacks on freedom of the press in this country. I think our plummeting ranking is entirely justified, especially when considering the overall erosion of civil liberties under the current U.S. administration.


Yep. Despite what many claim, the Cold War ended about 15 years ago. Not everything can be boiled down to "it's a commie conspiracy."
 
I said the organization "...has its roots as a mouthpiece for the socialist and communist movements in France..."

It's been around for a long time and has evolved from that.

Overall, I still view"Reporters Without Borders" as the"Amenesty International" of news. It's an expression of mainly European activist viewpoints.

They don't like America.

This is non-news. :)
 
I said the organization "...has its roots as a mouthpiece for the socialist and communist movements in France..."

It's been around for a long time and has evolved from that.

Overall, I still view"Reporters Without Borders" as the"Amenesty International" of news. It's an expression of mainly European activist viewpoints.

They don't like America.

I really don't know where you get the impression that this organization is somehow anti-American based on touting socialist/communist banner.

As TS pointed out, if it were so pro-socialist, socialist/communist countries would invariably be ranked a lot higher more consistently.

Seems to me that you want to completely dismiss the study because you think that it's blindly anti-American. Well, if it really had an axe to grind, I would think that it would have ranked the United States much lower. Instead of completely dismissing the study, take a look at it a bit closer.

I think Pat's point is spot on. Those countries with large militaries and a spying networks invariably are going to limit unfettered access to information through the press. It doesn't necessarily mean that this country doesn't have freedom of the press, it means that it's limited.

And how all of a sudden has the celebration and promotion of a free press and information become something which is "socialist?" Seems to me that a free press is the hallmark of a democratic society; if the United STates is going to be arrogant enough to export democracy abroad, we'd better get it right here.

Obviously, I don't support a completely, unfettered, free press. There should be limitations based on ethical and issues of national and military importance. My guess is that nation-states who don't have spying networks and a large military don't need to keep many secrets. Other countries do, and I think it was the findings of the study which you posted. It isn't some pro-socialist political statement. I really think they are genuinely interested in issues regarding a free press, regardless of what kind of polity a nation has.
 
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Obviously?

Obviously, you haven't bothered to go to the site and read the ABOUT US section.

Come back after you've done that.

Oh, you might want to go read the questionnaire that provided the answers too.
 

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