R i g h t a r d i a: Russia falls and US rises in press freedom index

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Russia falls and US rises in press freedom index

21:5020/10/2009

Freedumb of Speech

PARIS, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia fell to 153rd place in the latest Reporters Without Borders report on press freedom, published on Tuesday.

Russia has dropped 12 places since 2008, and is now below neighboring Belarus for the first time.

"The reasons for this fall, three years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder, include the continuing murders of journalists and human rights activists," the organization said. "They also include the return with increasing force of censorship and reporting taboos and the complete failure to punish those responsible for the murders."

Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden are joint top of the press freedom index.

Turkmenistan (173), North Korea (174) and Eritrea (175) occupy the last three places, and are described as countries "where the media are so suppressed, they are non-existent".

Despite the U.S. moving from 40th to 20th place, "the attitude of the United States towards the media in Iraq and Afghanistan is worrying," Reporters Without Borders said.

Rightardia wonders why a nation that has an Establishment Clause (The First Amendment) in its constitution is not number one? Regardless, the US is improving once the Bush administration was forced out of office.

Obama effect brings US back into top 20

The United States has climbed 20 places in the rankings, from 40th to 20th, in just one year. Barack Obama’s election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor have had a lot to do with this.

But this sharp rise concerns only the state of press freedom within the United States. President Obama may have been awarded the Nobel peace prize, but his country is still fighting two wars.

Despite a slight improvement, the attitude of the United States towards the media in Iraq and Afghanistan is worrying. Several journalists were injured or arrested by the US military. One, Ibrahim Jassam, is still being held in Iraq.

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