The tenth annual Press Freedom Index was released on January 26th by Reporters Without Borders. The list shows which country has the world’s freest media ranking from the freest (number 1) to the most censored (number 179). This year’s index shows a large change in the order of countries. In first place, is both Finland and Norway, making them the world’s freest media containing government.
On the opposite side of the spectrum North Korea is in 178th place, Turkmenistan in 177th place, Iran in 175th place, and China in 174th place. China earned this spot by carrying out extrajudicial arrests and by increasing their Internet censorship. It is said that China will continue to go down the list with its continuation of having the Communist Party “sticking to the main line” in relation to the media and increasing propaganda.
The United States shot down from last year’s 20th rank to this years 47th rank. The sudden drop was a result of the year’s Occupy Wall Street and the many arrests of journalists in the area or involved in the protest.
It makes me sad that our press is the most free when it is still very much influenced by government. For example the lack of press for NDAA 2012 and not much talk of SOPA and PIPA in the mainstream media. We do have few censors on internet which is probably what pushes us to the top of the list.
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ReplyDeleteIt makes me sad that we live in a country that flaunts all of these freedoms yet we're no where near #1 on this list. And to comment on what John said, no where in any local news (which is what I listen to after Ellen) did I hear any mention about SOPA, PIPA, or NDAA.
And just a thought: relating to my last point, I think it is pretty safe to say that there censorship, or at least influence, on television in the news. From the news on television, you don't get the whole story, or sometimes stories on anything at all (like no mention of SOPA). It seems like the government has a pretty good handle on the news that we get. To juxtapose: you can find almost anything on the internet. News travels so fast and whether you're on twitter, facebook, reddit, etc. there are almost constant updates about things going on in the country and the world. SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA seem to be the government's attempt at getting a handle on the information we receive from the internet now, too.
Hmph.