Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006

[Lauren Hynde]

It has been released two days ago by Reporters Without Borders. The report includes some interesting comments:

(...)

"Each year new countries in less-developed parts of the world move up the Index to positions above some European countries or the United States. This is good news and shows once again that, even though very poor, countries can be very observant of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming,” Reporters Without Borders said.

(...)

Deterioration in the United States and Japan, with France also slipping

The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.

Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works for the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June 2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year.

France (35th) slipped five places during the past year, to make a loss of 24 places in five years. The increase in searches of media offices and journalists’ homes is very worrying for media organisations and trade unions. Autumn 2005 was an especially bad time for French journalists, several of whom were physically attacked or threatened during a trade union dispute involving privatisation of the Corsican firm SNCM and during violent demonstrations in French city suburbs in November.

Rising nationalism and the system of exclusive press clubs (kishas) threatened democratic gains in Japan, which fell 14 places to 51st. The newspaper Nihon Keizai was firebombed and several journalists phsyically attacked by far-right activists (uyoku).

(...)

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.​

The Ranking:

Rank | Score | Country
001 | 00,50 | Finland
001 | 00,50 | Iceland
001 | 00,50 | Ireland
001 | 00,50 | Netherlands
005 | 00,75 | Czech Republic
006 | 02,00 | Estonia
006 | 02,00 | Norway
008 | 02,50 | Slovakia
008 | 02,50 | Switzerland
010 | 03,00 | Hungary
010 | 03,00 | Latvia
010 | 03,00 | Portugal
010 | 03,00 | Slovenia
014 | 04,00 | Belgium
014 | 04,00 | Sweden
016 | 04,50 | Austria
016 | 04,50 | Bolivia
016 | 04,50 | Canada
019 | 05,00 | Bosnia and Herzegovina
019 | 05,00 | Denmark
019 | 05,00 | New-Zealand
019 | 05,00 | Trinidad and Tobago
023 | 05,50 | Benin
023 | 05,50 | Germany
023 | 05,50 | Jamaica
026 | 06,00 | Namibia
027 | 06,50 | Lithuania
027 | 06,50 | United Kingdom
029 | 06,67 | Costa Rica
030 | 07,50 | Cyprus
031 | 07,75 | South Korea
032 | 08,00 | Greece
032 | 08,00 | Mauritius
034 | 08,50 | Ghana
035 | 09,00 | Australia
035 | 09,00 | Bulgaria
035 | 09,00 | France
035 | 09,00 | Mali
039 | 09,50 | Panama
040 | 09,90 | Italy
041 | 10,00 | El Salvador
041 | 10,00 | Spain
043 | 10,50 | Taiwan
044 | 11,25 | South Africa
045 | 11,50 | Cape Verde
045 | 11,50 | Macedonia
045 | 11,50 | Mozambique
045 | 11,50 | Serbia and Montenegro
049 | 11,63 | Chile
050 | 12,00 | Israel
051 | 12,50 | Japan
052 | 12,75 | Dominican Republic
053 | 13,00 | Botswana
053 | 13,00 | Croatia
053 | 13,00 | Tonga
053 | 13,00 | United States of America
057 | 13,75 | Uruguay
058 | 14,00 | Fiji
058 | 14,00 | Hong-Kong
058 | 14,00 | Poland
058 | 14,00 | Romania
062 | 14,50 | Central African Republic
062 | 14,50 | Cyprus (North)
062 | 14,50 | Guinea-Bissau
062 | 14,50 | Honduras
066 | 15,00 | Madagascar
066 | 15,00 | Togo
068 | 15,25 | Ecuador
069 | 15,50 | Nicaragua
070 | 16,00 | Burkina Faso
070 | 16,00 | Kosovo
070 | 16,00 | Lesotho
073 | 17,00 | Congo
073 | 17,00 | Kuwait
075 | 17,17 | Brazil
076 | 17,30 | Argentina
077 | 17,50 | Mauritania
078 | 17,50 | Senegal
079 | 17,50 | United Arab Emirates
080 | 18,00 | Albania
080 | 18,00 | Qatar
082 | 18,25 | Paraguay
083 | 18,50 | Timor-Leste
084 | 19,00 | Liberia
085 | 19,17 | Moldova
086 | 19,25 | Mongolia
087 | 19,50 | Haiti
088 | 19,82 | Tanzania
089 | 21,00 | Georgia
090 | 21,25 | Guatemala
091 | 21,50 | Angola
092 | 22,25 | Malaysia
093 | 22,50 | Comoros
093 | 22,50 | Zambia
095 | 24,50 | Niger
095 | 24,50 | Seychelles
097 | 24,83 | Morocco
098 | 25,00 | Bhutan
098 | 25,00 | Côte d’Ivoire
098 | 25,00 | Turkey
101 | 25,50 | Armenia
101 | 25,50 | Malawi
103 | 26,00 | Indonesia
103 | 26,00 | Sierra Leone
105 | 26,50 | India
105 | 26,50 | Ukraine
107 | 27,00 | Lebanon
108 | 27,25 | Cambodia
109 | 27,50 | Guinea
109 | 27,50 | Jordan
111 | 28,00 | Bahrein
112 | 28,25 | Cameroon
112 | 28,25 | Peru
114 | 28,50 | Gabon
115 | 29,00 | Venezuela
116 | 29,83 | Uganda
117 | 30,00 | Tajikistan
118 | 30,25 | Kenya
119 | 31,50 | United States of America (extra-territorial)
120 | 32,23 | Nigeria
121 | 33,00 | Djibouti
122 | 33,50 | Thailand
123 | 34,00 | Kyrgyzstan
124 | 35,50 | Chad
125 | 39,83 | Burundi
126 | 40,00 | Algeria
127 | 40,50 | Swaziland
128 | 41,00 | Kazakhstan
128 | 41,00 | Rwanda
130 | 44,25 | Afghanistan
131 | 44,75 | Colombia
132 | 45,83 | Mexico
133 | 46,25 | Egypt
134 | 46,75 | Palestinian Authority
135 | 47,00 | Azerbaijan
135 | 47,00 | Israel (extra-territorial)
137 | 48,00 | Bangladesh
137 | 48,00 | Equatorial Guinea
139 | 48,13 | Sudan
140 | 50,00 | Zimbabwe
141 | 50,75 | Sri Lanka
142 | 51,00 | Democratic Republic of Congo
142 | 51,00 | Philippines
144 | 51,25 | Maldives
144 | 51,25 | Somalia
146 | 51,50 | Singapore
147 | 52,50 | Russia
148 | 53,75 | Tunisia
149 | 54,00 | Gambia
149 | 54,00 | Yemen
151 | 57,00 | Belarus
152 | 62,50 | Libya
153 | 63,00 | Syria
154 | 66,83 | Iraq
155 | 67,25 | Vietnam
156 | 67,50 | Laos
157 | 70,33 | Pakistan
158 | 71,00 | Uzbekistan
159 | 73,50 | Nepal
160 | 75,00 | Ethiopia
161 | 76,00 | Saudi Arabia
162 | 90,88 | Iran
163 | 94,00 | China
164 | 94,75 | Burma
165 | 95,00 | Cuba
166 | 97,50 | Eritrea
167 | 98,50 | Turkmenistan
168 | 109,00 | North Korea

 

[colddiesel]

??

Does this index include consideration of the Internet ? As a news source it has assumed greater importance, admittedly only in wealthier countries but my guess is that despite some important setbacks it would tend to greater rather than less freedom.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

I'm glad Kyrgyzstan is doing so well.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Does this index include consideration of the Internet ? As a news source it has assumed greater importance, admittedly only in wealthier countries but my guess is that despite some important setbacks it would tend to greater rather than less freedom.

This is made by journalists, and that includes journalists that work for online newspapers. One of the excerpts I quoted refers "Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf", so...

You can find out more at www.rfs.org

 

[Pure]

nice posting, lauren

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I thought that maybe some wouldn't get to hear about this.

 

[kendo1]

Interesting. Thanks, Lauren.
As I noted in another thread, the Land of Free Speech!
One of the top stories on BBC Scotland news tonight was the return of a Royal Marine, killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last week.

 

[Liar]

Lauren, have you got any info on how that score is calculated? I remember seeing one list like that some year ago, with the addition that you saw what kind of free speech issues that lowered the score.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

I am suspicious of this report and index, and here's why: Britain has an official secrets act that as I understand it is far more draconian than anything ever contemplated in the U.S. In addition, right to free speech guaranteed in writing by the U.S. Constitution, and with rare exceptions strongly protected by the courts, does not exist in Britain. Finally, and related to the last, it's my understanding that Britain has passed "hate speech" laws that empower the government to actually jail violators, including those whose "hate speech" is printed. Altogether, to the extent my understanding of the law there correct (and I admit I'm not an expert), the press has complete freedom in Britain, as long as it exercises self censorship with regard to the things that government has prohibited it to publish. Which is to say, press freedom does not really exist in Britain.

I don't mean to pick on Britain, but I don't know about any of those other countries.

I see some other dubious names ahead of the U.S. El Salvador? Ghana? Benin? Mozambique? Serbia? Taiwan? What's going on here? The closer one looks, the more dubious this appears.


Edited to add: Does anyone really believe that a rabidly anti-government newspaper could operate for long with impunity in Mozambique or Taiwan the way one can in the U.S.? Maybe the reason there's little news about reporters getting into trouble in those countries is because they wouldn't dare push the envelope. That doesn't qualify as "freedom of the press" in my book.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Lauren, have you got any info on how that score is calculated? I remember seeing one list like that some year ago, with the addition that you saw what kind of free speech issues that lowered the score.

Yeah, those pairs of numbers in the list seem to mean something, but Lauren's link didn't point to anywhere that gave an explanation for those numbers.

 

[Pure]

roxIn addition, right to free speech guaranteed in writing by the U.S. Constitution, and with rare exceptions strongly protected by the courts, does not exist in Britain.

the press has complete freedom in Britain, as long as it exercises self censorship with regard to the things that government has prohibited it to publish. Which is to say, press freedom does not really exist in Britain.


pure: you really must broaden your reading, my dear. wall street journal, florida tabloids, and the objectivist newsletter give a rather biased slice of reality.

PS: I agree that a self censorship factor may be operating in some cases allegedly 'freer' than the US, e.g., South Korea and Taiwan. If all journalists toe the line (and there aren't too many foreign journalists stirring shit), then obviously none go to jail.

OTOH, depending on weighting, if *going to jail* is thought to be really bad--it is, isn't it?-- it's understandable that if the US has 2 in jail, and no W. European country has any, then that sort of thing helps explain why the US lags W. Europe.

 

[Pure]

links

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388

the questionnaire is described here
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19390


the procedure is described here
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19391

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Thanks, Pure, I still don't quite get those pairs of numbers. I see one goes up to max of 50, which is the same as the number of questions. Still unclear.

 

[Pure]

the description says there's a ranking number and a score. as far as i can see, the last two digits of the score are just decimal fractions.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

It's just that with something as tendentious as this, the methodology needs to be laid out very plainly for scrutiny. I've no doubt that they took a lot of care.

 

[Pure]

the methodology seems ok to me.

it's measuring the bad things that happen to reporters, and the environment in which they have to function.

the basic issue, though, is disposition vs. display--e.g., how to you tell someone's 'sense of humor' if they've not heard or tried to say anything funny in the period of measurement. if no one in Taiwan writes a government corruption story that's really embarrassing, then there are no incidents.

to really measure a disposition, you have to have the same stimulus, i.e. ask reporters to write a specific series of things that displease the government in each country, and see what happens.

further, since Bush has essentially put the US in 'at war' status, all statements prejudicial to the US national security or to its armed forces have special status. this issue could not exist, say, for Finland.

OTOH, i don't think the reporters can give the US a 'pass' just because they say 'national security' and never even lay charges, bring to trial etc.
===

PS. One poster asked about internet issues: there were five questions about that:

45. A state monopoly of Internet service providers (ISPs)?

46. ISPs forced to filter access to websites?

47. Websites shut down over the period?

48. ISPs legally responsible for the content of websites they host?

49. Cyber-dissidents or bloggers imprisoned (how many?)

50. Cyber-dissidents or bloggers harassed or physically attacked (how many?)
----

But as I stated above, the issue of equivalence comes up where there are no or few provocations. If the US has 100 provocations, and 10 nasty consequences, it's going to look worse than a place with 5 mild provocations (because bloggers were too scared), and one or no case of ill consequences.
===

NOTE: There is no 2001 rsf index for the world, but here's 2002, with the US at #17. This is before the real chill was felt. IOW ranking 17, *but for the war and terrorism* issue may better represent the 'real' place of the US. BUT, as Roxanne argues, if reporters are only free when the govt is NOT nervous, that isn't much in the way of real freedom.

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

 

[Pure]

speaking of press freedom; courts decides Danish case re Muhammad

Danish paper wins Mohammad cartoon libel case

Thu Oct 26, 10:33 AM



By Gelu Sulugiuc



AARHUS, Denmark (Reuters) - A court ruled on Thursday that a Danish newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that unleashed a storm of protests in the Islamic world.


Seven Danish Muslim organizations brought the case, saying the paper had libeled them with the images by implying Muslims were terrorists. One cartoon depicted Mohammad with a bomb in his turban.


Jyllands-Posten, which published the 12 drawings in September last year, hailed the ruling, saying any other outcome would have been a catastrophe for a free press.


A Muslim imam said the plaintiffs would continue to fight in higher courts.


The cartoons were reprinted elsewhere and at least 50 people were killed as angry Muslims rioted in the Middle East and Asia. Three Danish embassies were attacked and many Muslims boycotted Danish goods.


Many Muslims consider it blasphemous to depict Mohammad.


"Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims," the Aarhus court said in its ruling.


"But there is no sufficient reason to assume that the cartoons are or were intended to be insulting ... or put forward ideas that could hurt the standing of Muslims in society."


The court ordered the seven organizations to pay the paper's court expenses. The plaintiffs have appealed to a higher court.


"Anything but a clear acquittal would have been a catastrophe for freedom of the press and the media's ability to fulfill its role in a democratic society," Jyllands-Posten editor Carsten Juste said on the paper's Web site.


"You can think what you want about the cartoons, but the newspaper's unassailable right to print them has been set by both the country's prosecutors and the court system."


The ruling said some of the cartoons did not depict Mohammad or have a religious subject, while others fell outside the scope of defamation laws.


But the court did find that three of the cartoons fell within what the law could deem as insulting.


"I'm not surprised, shocked or disappointed," said Ahmed Abu-Laban, a Copenhagen imam active in one of the organizations that brought the lawsuit.


"Freedom of speech has been the issue from the beginning. It is seen differently in Europe than we see it."


He urged Danish journalists to exercise self-censorship when dealing with sensitive subjects and said he hoped Denmark would pass laws guaranteeing "the dignity of people."


"Islam has been demonized and we pay a high price in discrimination," he said. "There is blasphemy and discrimination, but now it's interpreted to save the face of the government."

In March, Danish prosecutors declined to press charges against the newspaper under Danish blasphemy and anti-racism laws.

(Additional reporting by Rasmus Jorgensen in Aarhus and Kim McLaughlin in Copenhagen)