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Press freedom in US slips
24/10/2006 13:18 - (SA)
Paris - North Korea is the worst violator of press freedom while
journalists in Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands enjoy the
most liberty, according to a new index released this week by Reporters
Without Borders.
South Africa came in at No. 44, ahead of the United States at No. 53 -
a spot it shared with Croatia, Botswana and Tonga. Russia came in at
No. 147. The Paris-based media advocacy group relied on its network
of 130 correspondents, plus journalists, legal experts and human
rights activists, to come up with the ranking.
Worst offenders The worst offenders, in order, were North Korea,
Turkmenistan, Eritrea, Cuba, Burma, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia,
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the countries that are the
worst predators of press freedom, and journalists in North Korea,
Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their
life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed," the organisation
said.
In the country at the bottom of the list, "the all-powerful North
Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, also continues to totally control the
media," the group said.
US has steadily declined
In the index's first year, 2002, the United States was in 17th place
and has steadily declined since then.
"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 report said.
US press freedom is slipping even when terrorism is not at stake, the
report said, citing the case of Joshua Wolf, a freelance video
journalist jailed after he refused to turn over footage of a political
protest to a grand jury. France fell back five places to No. 35,
which it shared with Australia,
Bulgaria and Mali, and Japan dropped 14 places to No. 51.
Bolivia and Bosnia, meanwhile, moved into the top 20. Bolivia shared
16th place with Austria and Canada, while Bosnia was in 19th place
with Denmark, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago.
Denmark suffers over cartoon threats
Denmark, which shared first place last year, suffered a sharp loss of
press freedom because of threats against the authors of the Prophet
Muhammad cartoons that caused an uproar in September 2005.
"For the first time in recent years in a country that is very
observant of civil liberties, journalists had to have police
protection due to threats against them because of their work," the
report said.
Russia
Among European nations, press freedom is worst in the ex-Soviet
states, the group said.
Media freedom in Russia - where award-winning investigative reporter
Anna Politkovskaya was shot to death on October 7 in a suspected
contract killing - has not improved, the report said.
"Russia, which suffers from a basic lack of democracy, continues
slowly but steadily dismantling the free media, with industrial groups
close to President Vladimir Putin buying up nearly all independent
media outlets and with passage of a law discouraging NGO activity," it
said.
24/10/2006 13:18 - (SA)
Paris - North Korea is the worst violator of press freedom while
journalists in Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands enjoy the
most liberty, according to a new index released this week by Reporters
Without Borders.
South Africa came in at No. 44, ahead of the United States at No. 53 -
a spot it shared with Croatia, Botswana and Tonga. Russia came in at
No. 147. The Paris-based media advocacy group relied on its network
of 130 correspondents, plus journalists, legal experts and human
rights activists, to come up with the ranking.
Worst offenders The worst offenders, in order, were North Korea,
Turkmenistan, Eritrea, Cuba, Burma, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia,
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the countries that are the
worst predators of press freedom, and journalists in North Korea,
Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their
life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed," the organisation
said.
In the country at the bottom of the list, "the all-powerful North
Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, also continues to totally control the
media," the group said.
US has steadily declined
In the index's first year, 2002, the United States was in 17th place
and has steadily declined since then.
"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 report said.
US press freedom is slipping even when terrorism is not at stake, the
report said, citing the case of Joshua Wolf, a freelance video
journalist jailed after he refused to turn over footage of a political
protest to a grand jury. France fell back five places to No. 35,
which it shared with Australia,
Bulgaria and Mali, and Japan dropped 14 places to No. 51.
Bolivia and Bosnia, meanwhile, moved into the top 20. Bolivia shared
16th place with Austria and Canada, while Bosnia was in 19th place
with Denmark, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago.
Denmark suffers over cartoon threats
Denmark, which shared first place last year, suffered a sharp loss of
press freedom because of threats against the authors of the Prophet
Muhammad cartoons that caused an uproar in September 2005.
"For the first time in recent years in a country that is very
observant of civil liberties, journalists had to have police
protection due to threats against them because of their work," the
report said.
Russia
Among European nations, press freedom is worst in the ex-Soviet
states, the group said.
Media freedom in Russia - where award-winning investigative reporter
Anna Politkovskaya was shot to death on October 7 in a suspected
contract killing - has not improved, the report said.
"Russia, which suffers from a basic lack of democracy, continues
slowly but steadily dismantling the free media, with industrial groups
close to President Vladimir Putin buying up nearly all independent
media outlets and with passage of a law discouraging NGO activity," it
said.