From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Tue Nov 26 2002 - 10:52:18 MST
> (chris hibbert <chris@pancrit.org>):
> Amara wrote:
> >Worldwide Press Freedom Index
> >http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4118
>
> >1 Finland 0,50
> >- Iceland 0,50
> >- Norway 0,50
> >- Netherlands 0,50
> > ...
> >17 United States 4,75
>
> Amara, do you know in what way these countries (and another 12) have a
> press that is more free than the press in the US?
>
> I shouldn't have to say this, but: this is a request for information,
> and not an attack on the report.
>
> Reporters without borders explained who they asked and how they
> tabulated the results, but I couldn't find any indication of which of
> the items on their list (directs attacks on journalists and on the
> media, punishment for press offenses, a state monopoly in some areas,
> the existence of a regulatory body, and the behavior of the state
> towards the public media) the respondents said were occurring here.
I seem to recall from reading that report when it came out that
they downgraded the US because of a fair number of journalists in
jail for refusing to reveal their sources, and because of FCC
regulation of radio and television content. I don't find this
study very meaningful, though, because it's all based on self-
assessment rather than any real objective criteria. I know there
are journalists in many places who would never write an article
critical of someone powerful or critical of the common beliefs
of the people, but who would consider themselves "free" because
it would never occur to them that such a thing was possible or
reasonable.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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