Freedom of Press

thomas · Nov 11, 2002, 07:15

Reporters sans frontières published an interesting article about their new "press freedom index" for 139 countries.

"Surprises among Western democracies: US below Costa Rica and Italy below Benin

Reporters Without Borders is publishing for the first time a worldwide index of countries according to their respect for press freedom. It also shows that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 bottom-ranked countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The situation in especially bad in Asia, which contains the five worst offenders - North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

The top end of the list shows that rich countries have no monopoly of press freedom. Costa Rica and Benin are examples of how growth of a free press does not just depend on a country's material prosperity.

The index was drawn up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer 50 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations (such as murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, pressure, state monopolies in various fields, punishment of press law offences and regulation of the media). The final list includes 139 countries. The others were not included in the absence of reliable information."

=> http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116

Japan ranks at #26, ex aequo with South Africa and Austria.

Hoyu · Nov 11, 2002, 08:36

I read the article and it left me pondering if we should not also be attempting to know of the top 30, how many of them are free from "spinning" the press, and which attempt to insure that no subtle propaganda are allowed to be purported as "news."

moyashi · Nov 11, 2002, 16:32

hmmm, I bet Japan would be higher if the emperor and his family were not off limits.

thomas · Nov 11, 2002, 17:31

Probably no country is free of spinning the news, but it's symptomatic that Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands top the list, for they are closest to the so-called concept of "civil society" (whatever that actually means). Reporters sans fronti鑽es is an organization of integrity, so their numbers at least reflect a trend.

Nov 11, 2002, 07:15	#1
thomas Decommissioned ex-admin Join Date: Mar 14, 2002 Posts: 4,209	Freedom of Press Reporters sans frontières published an interesting article about their new "press freedom index" for 139 countries. "Surprises among Western democracies: US below Costa Rica and Italy below Benin Reporters Without Borders is publishing for the first time a worldwide index of countries according to their respect for press freedom. It also shows that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 bottom-ranked countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The situation in especially bad in Asia, which contains the five worst offenders - North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan. The top end of the list shows that rich countries have no monopoly of press freedom. Costa Rica and Benin are examples of how growth of a free press does not just depend on a country's material prosperity. The index was drawn up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer 50 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations (such as murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, pressure, state monopolies in various fields, punishment of press law offences and regulation of the media). The final list includes 139 countries. The others were not included in the absence of reliable information." => http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116 Japan ranks at #26, ex aequo with South Africa and Austria. __________________ Remember what the dormouse said, feed your head, feed your head!

Nov 11, 2002, 16:32	#3
moyashi Regular Member Join Date: Apr 15, 2002 Location: SonyLand Age: 40 Posts: 1,566	hmmm, I bet Japan would be higher if the emperor and his family were not off limits. __________________ crazy gonna crazy

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Nov 11, 2002, 08:36	#2
Hoyu Regular Member Join Date: Nov 3, 2002 Posts: 241	Thomas I read the article and it left me pondering if we should not also be attempting to know of the top 30, how many of them are free from "spinning" the press, and which attempt to insure that no subtle propaganda are allowed to be purported as "news."

Nov 11, 2002, 17:31	#4
thomas Decommissioned ex-admin Join Date: Mar 14, 2002 Posts: 4,209	Probably no country is free of spinning the news, but it's symptomatic that Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands top the list, for they are closest to the so-called concept of "civil society" (whatever that actually means). Reporters sans fronti鑽es is an organization of integrity, so their numbers at least reflect a trend.