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October 26 Press FreedomI'm breaking my rule of avoiding news, politics or relevancy to humankind, for just a moment, to bring you the results of a contest.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released their annual worldwide Press Freedom Index, which ranks 168 Earthly nations by in which country a journalist can expect the best freedom, and a second ranking that rates their treatment of journalists outside their borders. (eg in a war zone like Iraq)
This report does not rate the quality of reporting. Only the circumstances endured by journalists. Regulations which prevent journalists from lying or committing slander are considered negative; for example, in a previous report the organization condemned France for passing a law making it illegal to deny the Armenian Genocide. (like denying the holocaust, except the Turkish government has not yet admitted it happened-in Turkey it is illegal to mention that it happened, which is hailed as a step forward, a de facto admission that it did take place)
It also does not consider the corruptability of the media. In rich countries, hinting that a journalist may be fired is enough to stop a story from coming out. In Colombia, threatening a reporter with death might not silence him.
In other words, the organization rates the freedom and safety of journalists, and that includes their freedom to safely lie on behalf of allies and take bribes. Rank in the index has no bearing on the degree of truth or accuracy of the media in any country, or whether it serves the populace or a few powerful people.
So, where do you think Canada stands, out of 168 nations? Pick a number and we'll see if you were right...got it? OK continue.
Canada
Canada ranked 16th. We tied Bolivia and Austria.
Who beat us? Finland, Iceland, Ireland, and the Netherlands all tied for first place. All of the top 15 countries were members of the EU except Norway(6th) and Switzerland(8th).
What black marks acted against Canada? The main issue the past 2 years running is that the Government and police in Canada seem to think the press belongs to them and serves, their interests. That's not very serious, considering that in Turkmenistan (ranked 2nd last) a journalist was tortured to death for criticizing their leader.
This journalist is still in jail in Turkmenistan, awaiting a fearsome unknown fate
Canada rarely arrests journalists for doing their work and makes no violent attempts to control information.
Where did America and its other allies rank? (you may be suprised by the countries considered "important allies" by the US government; it's because of their strategic location)
USA was 53rd, down from 17th four years ago, having arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned journalists domestically; America's rating outside its borders was especially dismal at 119th, for deliberately killing or detaining reporters and generally controlling information flow.
Japan was 51st
Israel was 50th (extra-territorial it rated 136th)
Australia was 35th, tied with France, Bulgaria and Mali, coming in right after Ghana
UK was 19th
Pakistan was 157th
Saudi Arabia 161th
Uzbekistan was 158th Turkey was 98th
(kinda discredits the notion that the US intervenes in countries to 'spread democracy' when their most important allies are some of the worst oppressors on the planet)
Where the American Hand is Directly Present:
Afghanistan 130th Iraq 154th
Lebanon - The Lebanese media was among the most free in the Arab world, but thanks to conflict with Israel* Lebanon has dropped from 56th to 107th.
(*Any Israeli military action is actually America, as everything Israel does is cleared first with the US authorities - before the so-called "suprise" Lebanon war the US implemented aid programs that sold Israel the bombs they used)
War
In general, war destroys press freedom, although poverty does not necessarily impact it (unless it contributes to conflict). Several regimes collapsed, resulting in leaps forward in the ranking. Specifically, these regimes which fell include Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was re-installed by US military intervention in 1994. Another huge improvement was felt in Togo since the dictator (supported by France) died in 2005 and his son assumed power. All this further destroys the notion that the US is 'spreading democracy' through military action, a concept decried by Maximiliem Robespierre (aka "Mad Max" or "The Incorruptible", a French revolutionary) who wrote, "One can only encourage freedom, never create it with an invading force." (Or, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.")
Some of My Favourite Countries (and places friends & family have visited):
Germany tied Jamaica for 23rd
Denmark dropped from 1st last year to 19th this year, thanks to the Mohammed Cartoons fiasco
Czech Republic 5th
Slovenia 11th
Venezuela 115
Peru 112
Italy 40
Spain 41
Miscellaneous from RSF:
Last year...
...61 reporters were killed. (plus 28 media workers)
...130 reporters were jailed. (plus 3 media workers)
...61 "cyberdissidents" (like me!) were jailed - One of them, Josh Wolfe, remains imprisoned in the USA.
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