US slips in press freedom index

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kaganowski Re: US slips in press freedom index 22.10.05, 10:25

www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8247
United States and Israel singled out for actions beyond their borders

Reporters Without Borders published its second world press freedom ranking on
20 October 2003. As in 2002, the most catastrophic situation is to be found in
Asia, especially North Korea, Burma and Laos. The United States and Italy were
given relatively low rankings.

Reporters Without Borders today publishes its second world press freedom
ranking. Like last year, the most catastrophic situation is to found in Asia,
with eight countries in the bottom ten : North Korea, Burma, Laos, China, Iran,
Vietnam, Turkmenistan and Bhutan. Independent news media are either non-
existent in these countries, or are constantly repressed by the authorities.
Journalists there work in extremely difficult conditions, with no freedom and
no security. A number of them are imprisoned in Burma, China and Iran.

To compile this ranking, Reporters Without Borders asked journalists,
researchers, jurists and human rights activists to fill out a questionnaire
evaluating respect for press freedom in a particular country. A total of 166
countries are included in the ranking (as against 139 last year). The other
countries were left out because of a lack of reliable, well-supported data.

Wealth and press freedom don’t always go together As in 2002, the ranking shows
that a country’s respect for press freedom is not solely linked to its economic
development. The top 50 include countries that are among the poorest in the
world, such as Benin (29th position), Timor-Leste (30th) and Madagascar (46th).

Conversely, the 50 countries that respect press freedom least include such rich
nations as Bahrain (117th) and Singapore (144th).

Special situation of the United States and Israel The ranking distinguishes
behaviour at home and abroad in the cases of the United States and Israel. They
are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for
freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and
146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders.

The Israeli army’s repeated abuses against journalists in the occupied
territories and the US army’s responsibility in the death of several reporters
during the war in Iraq constitute unacceptable behaviour by two nations that
never stop stressing their commitment to freedom of expression.

General deterioration in the Arab world The war in Iraq played a major role in
an increased crackdown on the press by the Arab regimes. Concerned about
maintaining their image and facing public opinion largely opposed to the war,
they stepped up control of the press and increased pressure on journalists, who
are forced to use self-censorship.

Kuwait (102nd) replaced Lebanon (106th) as the Arab world’s leader as regards
respect for freedom of expression because of cases of censorship in Lebanon,
together with abusive judicial proceedings and an attack on the television
station Futur TV. Saudi Arabia (156th), Syria (155th), Libya (153rd) and Oman
(152nd) used all the means at their disposal to prevent the emergence of a free
and independent press.

In Morocco (131st), the hopes pinned on Mohammed VI when he became king in July
1999 have been dashed. Independent newspapers are still subject to constant
harassment from the authorities. Ali Lmrabet, the publisher and editor of two
satirical weeklies, was sentenced in June 2003 to three years in prison
for "insulting the person of the king" because of articles and cartoons
touching on taboo subjects.

European Union gets good rankings, except Italy and Spain Italy received a poor
ranking (53rd) compared with the other European Union countries for the second
year running. Silvio Berlusconi’s conflict of interests as head of government
and owner of a media empire is still unresolved. Furthermore, a draft law to
reform radio and TV broadcasting, tailored to Berlusconi’s interests, is likely
to increase the threats to news diversity in Italy.

Spain’s relatively low ranking (42nd) is due to difficulties for journalists in
the Basque country. The terrorist organisation ETA has stepped up its threats
against the news media, promising to target journalists whose coverage does not
match its view of the situation. Furthermore, the necessary fight against
terrorism has affected press freedom, with the forced closure as a "preventive
measure" of the Basque newspaper Egunkaria, whose senior staff are suspected of
collaborating with ETA.

France is ranked as low as 26th because of its archaic defamation legislation,
the increasingly frequent challenges to the principle of confidentiality of
sources and the repeated abusive detention of journalists by police.

Press freedom is virtually non-existent in much of central Asia, especially
Turkmenistan (158th) and Uzbekistan (154th). No criticism of the authorities is
tolerated.

Non-state violence Several countries with a democratically-elected government
and a free and independent press have poor rankings. This is most notably the
case with Bangladesh (143rd), Colombia (147th) and Philippines (118th).
Journalists in these countries are the victims of violence that comes not only
from the state but also from political parties, criminal gangs or guerrilla
groups. In other cases, such as Nepal (150th), the press is caught in the cross
fire between security forces and rebels.

Such violence results in considerable self-censorship by the news media, which
do not dare to broach such subjects as corruption, collusion between political
leaders and organised crime, or sectarian clashes. At the same time, the
authorities very often fail to respond to this violence with the appropriate
measures, namely protection for journalists and the punishment of those
responsible.

News is the victim of war in Africa Wars and serious political crises have
inevitably had an impact on press freedom in Africa. The three countries that
have fallen most in the ranking in the past 12 months are Côte d’Ivoire
(137th), Liberia (132nd) and Guinea-Bissau (118th). Local and foreign
journalists were exposed to the violence of the warring parties in Côte
d’Ivoire and Liberia, while the military closed down news media in Guinea-Bissau
- kaganowski Re: US slips in press freedom index 22.10.05, 10:32
  
  N° Country Note
  1 Finland 0,50
  - Iceland 0,50
  - Netherlands 0,50
  - Norway 0,50
  5 Denmark 1,00
  - Trinidad and Tobago 1,00
  7 Belgium 1,17
  8 Germany 1,33
  9 Sweden 1,50
  10 Canada 1,83
  11 Latvia 2,25
  12 Czech Republic 2,50
  - Estonia 2,50
  - Slovakia 2,50
  - Switzerland 2,50
  16 Austria 2,75
  17 Ireland 2,83
  - Lithuania 2,83
  - New Zealand 2,83
  20 Slovenia 3,00
  21 Hungary 3,33
  - Jamaica 3,33
  - South Africa 3,33
  24 Costa Rica 3,83
  25 Uruguay 4,00
  26 France 4,17
  27 United Kingdom 4,25
  28 Portugal 5,17
  29 Benin 5,25
  30 Timor-Leste 5,50
  31 Greece 6,00
  - United States of America (American territory) 6,00
  33 Poland 6,17
  34 Albania 6,50
  - Bulgaria 6,50
  - Nicaragua 6,50
  37 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6,83
  - Chile 6,83
  - El Salvador 6,83
  40 Paraguay 7,17
  41 Mauritius 7,25
  42 Ecuador 7,67
  - Spain 7,67
  44 Israel (Israeli territory) 8,00
  - Japan 8,00
  46 Madagascar 8,17
  47 Cape Verde 8,25
  48 Ghana 8,75
  49 South Korea 9,17
  50 Australia 9,25
  51 Bolivia 9,67
  - Macedonia 9,67
  53 Italy 9,75
  - Panama 9,75
  55 Peru 10,25
  56 Hong-Kong 11,00
  - Mali 11,00
  - Namibia 11,00
  59 Fiji 11,50
  - Romania 11,50
  61 Taïwan 12,00
  62 Botswana 13,00
  63 Congo 14,00
  - Mozambique 14,00
  65 Honduras 14,17
  66 Senegal 14,50
  67 Argentina 15,17
  68 Niger 15,75
  69 Croatia 16,50
  - Tanzania 16,50
  71 Brazil 16,75
  72 Dominican Republic 17,00
  73 Georgia 17,33
  74 Mexico 17,67
  75 Lesotho 17,75
  76 Burkina Faso 18,00
  77 Gambia 18,25
  - Mongolia 18,25
  79 Comoros 18,50
  - Kenya 18,50
  81 Cambodia 19,50
  82 Thailand 19,67
  83 Cyprus 20,83
  84 Malawi 21,00
  85 Serbia and Montenegro 21,33
  86 Zambia 23,25
  87 Sierra Leone 23,50
  88 Chad 24,00
  89 Sri Lanka 24,83
  90 Armenia 25,17
  91 Uganda 25,75
  92 Burundi 26,25
  93 Seychelles 26,75
  94 Moldova 27,00
  95 Togo 27,50
  96 Venezuela 27,83
  97 Angola 28,00
  98 Cameroon 30,50
  99 Guatemala 30,83
  100 Haiti 31,00
  101 Gabon 31,25
  102 Kuwait 31,33
  103 Nigeria 31,50
  104 Kyrgyzstan 32,00
  - Malaysia 32,00
  106 Lebanon 32,50
  107 Central African Republic 32,75
  108 Algeria 33,00
  109 Guinea 33,17
  110 Egypt 34,25
  - Indonesia 34,25
  - Rwanda 34,25
  113 Azerbaijan 34,50
  - Tajikistan 34,50
  115 Qatar 35,00
  - Turkey 35,00
  117 Bahrain 35,17
  118 Guinea-Bissau 35,25
  - Philippines 35,25
  120 Djibouti 35,50
  121 Mauritania 36,67
  122 United Arab Emirates 37,00
  - Jordan 37,00
  124 Ethiopia 37,50
  - Iraq 37,50
  - Swaziland 37,50
  127 Democratic Republic of Congo 38,50
  128 India 39,00
  - Pakistan 39,00
  130 Palestinian Authority 39,25
  131 Morocco 39,67
  132 Liberia 40,00
  - Ukraine 40,00
  134 Afghanistan 40,17
  135 United States of America (in Iraq) 41,00
  136 Yemen 41,83
  137 Côte d’Ivoire 42,17
  138 Kazakhstan 42,50
  139 Equatorial Guinea 44,75
  140 Somalia 45,00
  141 Zimbabwe 45,50
  142 Sudan 45,75
  143 Bangladesh 46,50
  144 Singapore 47,33
  145 Maldives 47,50
  146 Israel (Occupied Territories) 49,00
  147 Colombia 49,17
  148 Russia 49,50
  149 Tunisia 50,83
  150 Nepal 51,50
  151 Belarus 52,00
  152 Oman 57,75
  153 Libya 60,00
  154 Uzbekistan 61,50
  155 Syria 67,50
  156 Saudi Arabia 71,50
  157 Bhutan 77,33
  158 Turkmenistan 82,83
  159 Vietnam 89,17
  160 Iran 89,33
  161 China 91,25
  162 Eritrea 91,50
  163 Laos 94,83
  164 Burma 95,50
  165 Cuba 97,83
  166 North Korea 99,50
  - kaganowski Re: US slips in press freedom index 22.10.05, 10:40
    
    Uwaga: Im wyższy wskaźnik w ostatniej kolumnie, tym mniejsza wolność prasy w
    danym kraju. Przykładowo: wskaźnik 99.5 dla Korei Północnej oznacza, ze prasa
    jest tam zniewolona w 99.5%, a 0.50 dla Finlandii oznacza, ze jest ona
    zniewolona tylko w 0.5% (jest ona więc wolna w 99.5%, w porównaniu do 0.5%
    wolności w Korei Północnej).
    Źródło: “Reporters Without Borders”
    www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8247
    - kaganowski AUSTRALIA dopiero 50! 22.10.05, 11:40
      
      Daleko w tyle za Polska!
bonobo44 US slipped to 44 position in press freedom index 22.10.05, 16:27

kaganowski napisał:

> 44 USA (down 20 places due to arrests of US journalists, nawet tych z New
> York Times)

nie bylbym 8(bonobo44
gdybym nie zauwazyl, ze 44 to niezwykle krytyczna liczba i ostatni moment
zarowno dla liczby ostatnich wolnych bonobo jak i ostatnich wolnosci
Amerykanskiego Narodu przed ich... zupelnym odejsciem w niebyt
- kaganowski A imie jego? 22.10.05, 16:31
  
  Czterdziesci i cztery (44).
  Wieszcz Adam (Mickiewicz, oczywiscie, a nie inny Adas M. wieszcza jeno udajacy
  i to mocno nieporadnie)...
  Pozdr.
  Kagan(owski)
  - kaganowski Australia jak Panama! 23.10.05, 12:12
    
    Polityczny establishment australijski użył ostanio np. przekupnych sędziów do
    walki z przywódcą partii One Nation (Jeden Narod), Pauliną Hanson. Została ona
    (co prawda na krótko, gdyż wygrała apelację) uwięziona na podstawie
    sfabrykowanych zarzutów defraudacji funduszy partyjnych. Użycie sądów i policji
    do walki z przeciwnikami politycznymi, nawet jeśli prezentują oni skrajne (a w
    przypadku p. Hanson także rasistowskie) poglądy, świadczy o bardzo poważnym
    kryzysie demokracji w Australii. Ów kryzys jest widoczny choćby we wspomnianej w
    tym watku niskiej pozycji Australii w tzw. Press Freedom Index czyli Indeksie
    Wolności Prasy, gdzie Australia zajmuje znacznie niższą pozycję (50) niż Polska
    (33). Innymi słowy, wolność prasy w Australii jest mniejsza nie tylko niż w
    olbrzymiej większości członków Unii Europekskiej, ale też mniejsza niż takich
    krajach jak Trynidad i Tobago, Jamajka, Republika Południowej Afryki, Kostaryka,
    Urugwaj, Benin, Timor Wschodni, Albania, Bułgaria, Nikaragua, Bośnia i
    Hercegowina, Chile, Salwador, Paragwaj, Mauritius,Ekwador, Izrael,
    Madagascar,Republika Zielonego Przylądka, Ghana i Korea Południowa, a tylko
    nieznacznie lepsza niż w Boliwii, Macedonii czy w Panamie...

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