Ranking of countries press freedom...

www.rsf.fr...
The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

Surprises among Western democracies : US below Costa Rica

and Italy below Benin

Reporters Without Borders is publishing for the first time a worldwide index of countries according to their respect for press freedom. It also shows that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 bottom-ranked countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The situation in especially bad in Asia, which contains the four worst offenders - North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.


Rank
Country
Note

1
Finland
0,50

-
Iceland
0,50

-
Norway
0,50

-
Netherlands
0,50

5
Canada
0,75

6
Ireland
1,00

7
Germany
1,50

-
Portugal
1,50

-
Sweden
1,50

10
Denmark
3,00

11
France
3,25

12
Australia
3,50

-
Belgium
3,50

14
Slovenia
4,00

15
Costa Rica
4,25

-
Switzerland
4,25

17
United States
4,75

18
Hong Kong
4,83

19
Greece
5,00

20
Ecuador
5,50

21
Benin
6,00

-
United Kingdom
6,00

-
Uruguay
6,00

24
Chile
6,50

-
Hungary
6,50

26
South Africa
7,50

-
Austria
7,50

-
Japan
7,50

29
Spain
7,75

-
Poland
7,75

31
Namibia
8,00

32
Paraguay
8,50

33
Croatia
8,75

-
El Salvador
8,75

35
Ta�wan
9,00

36
Mauritius
9,50

-
Peru
9,50

38
Bulgaria
9,75

39
South Korea
10,50

40
Italy
11,00

41
Czech Republic
11,25

42
Argentina
12,00

43
Bosnia and Herzegovia
12,50

-
Mali
12,50

45
Romania
13,25

46
Cape Verde
13,75

47
Senegal
14,00

48
Bolivia
14,50

49
Nigeria
15,50

-
Panama
15,50

51
Sri Lanka
15,75

52
Uganda
17,00

53
Niger
18,50

54
Brazil
18,75

55
Ivory Coast
19,00

56
Lebanon
19,67

57
Indonesia
20,00

58
Comoros
20,50

-
Gabon
20,50

60
Yugoslavia
20,75

-
Seychelles
20,75

62
Tanzania
21,25

63
Central African Republic
21,50

64
Gambia
22,50

65
Madagascar
22,75

-
Thailand
22,75

67
Bahrain
23,00

-
Ghana
23,00

69
Congo
23,17

70
Mozambique
23,50

71
Cambodia
24,25

72
Burundi
24,50

-
Mongolia
24,50

-
Sierra Leone
24,50

75
Kenya
24,75

-
Mexico
24,75

77
Venezuela
25,00

78
Kuwait
25,50

79
Guinea
26,00

80
India
26,50

81
Zambia
26,75

82
Palestinian National Authority
27,00

83
Guatemala
27,25

84
Malawi
27,67

85
Burkina Faso
27,75

86
Tajikistan
28,25

87
Chad
28,75

88
Cameroun
28,83

89
Morocco
29,00

-
Philippines
29,00

-
Swaziland
29,00

92
Israel
30,00

93
Angola
30,17

94
Guinea-Bissau
30,25

95
Algeria
31,00

96
Djibouti
31,25

97
Togo
31,50

98
Kyrgyzstan
31,75

99
Jordan
33,50

-
Turkey
33,50

101
Azerbaijan
34,50

-
Egypt
34,50

103
Yemen
34,75

104
Afghanistan
35,50

105
Sudan
36,00

106
Haiti
36,50

107
Ethiopia
37,50

-
Rwanda
37,50

109
Liberia
37,75

110
Malaysia
37,83

111
Brunei
38,00

112
Ukraine
40,00

113
Democratic Republic of the Congo
40,75

114
Colombia
40,83

115
Mauritania
41,33

116
Kazakhstan
42,00

117
Equatorial Guinea
42,75

118
Bangladesh
43,75

119
Pakistan
44,67

120
Uzbekistan
45,00

121
Russia
48,00

122
Iran
48,25

-
Zimbabwe
48,25

124
Belarus
52,17

125
Saudi Arabia
62,50

126
Syria
62,83

127
N�pal
63,00

128
Tunisia
67,75

129
Lybia
72,50

130
Irak
79,00

131
Viet Nam
81,25

132
Eritrea
83,67

133
Laos
89,00

134
Cuba
90,25

135
Bhutan
90,75

136
Turkmenistan
91,50

137
Burma
96,83

138
China
97,00

139
North Korea
97,50

im really statring to think finland IS the best country...

I already knew that the "free press" in America wasn't...But it was a surprise that we'd slipped all the way down to *17*!

Dang...where do we Kiwis stand in these rankings Nettie bro??

Hope they ain't lumped us in with freakin Aussies again like every bugger does these days.


Peace,
ALIEN

Netchicken; but I'd like to see the questions: I'm not sure I'm happy with "journalists" -which ones, or "legal experts".
Also, which part of the Press -English language or other: in many countries (e.g. Thailand) the English language press has far more freedom than the Thai Press -but then again, very few Thais can read it!
Also, there is the matter of the law -plainly written down for all to see? Or a matter of pressure and men in dark raincoats knocking on doors.
Britain, for example, had the D-notice system of censorship and pretty draconian libel laws - but these are plain for all to see and know about. In other countries the repression may be far worse but wholly hidden.
Again, many Western countries have restrictions concerning racist material -to be sure an infringement of freedom, in a sense, but perhaps desirable.
One man's freedom will always be another man's licence.
Finally, teher is commercial pressure -the Western Press is largely in the hands of a few wealthy corporations and individuals -often multi-national: they can impose their own restrictions regardless of any laws.


One thing's for sure -the state of the press makes one glad to have the internet.

Hmm... I wonder what that ranking might be if the Soviet Union were still in power. I mean, in the Old days you could get into serious trouble in Finland if you criticized the Big Red in public, for example.

Although Finland was not a part of the Soviet empire, the long common border with them was a darn good reason for those in power to suppress anything that could piss the eastern neighbor off. Nowadays it seems ridiculous, but also kind of sad at the same time...

Actually now there doesn't seem to be any other active suppression here than that of racistic (neo-nazi like) texts in the press. Which is fine, IMO.


Cheers,
Hobbymat

Canada is ahead of the U.S.? I figured that China would be near the bottom.

Not disputing their "findings" as I have no basis for argument, but I don't see their standards for judgement or definition of the word "respect".

I wonder if this has been updated???

BUMP!!!

I found a list dated back to october 2003. I guess there is no list for 2004 yet.

www.rsf.fr...

As always, north european countries are on top of the list

Trinidad & Tobago is up there in the top ten!!! nice...

The United States dropped to 31

Wealth and press freedom don't always go together As in 2002, the ranking shows that a country's respect for press freedom is not solely linked to its economic development. The top 50 include countries that are among the poorest in the world, such as Benin (29th position), Timor-Leste (30th) and Madagascar (46th).

Conversely, the 50 countries that respect press freedom least include such rich nations as Bahrain (117th) and Singapore (144th).

Special situation of the United States and Israel The ranking distinguishes behaviour at home and abroad in the cases of the United States and Israel. They are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and 146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders.

The Israeli army's repeated abuses against journalists in the occupied territories and the US army's responsibility in the death of several reporters during the war in Iraq constitute unacceptable behaviour by two nations that never stop stressing their commitment to freedom of expression.

General deterioration in the Arab world The war in Iraq played a major role in an increased crackdown on the press by the Arab regimes. Concerned about maintaining their image and facing public opinion largely opposed to the war, they stepped up control of the press and increased pressure on journalists, who are forced to use self-censorship.

BUMP!!

the 2004 list is here:

www.rsf.fr...

Check out the european countries! they rule the list! Together with New Zealand, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago, of course

Also, I am very very proud of my home country, Bosnia, we rank at 21, and are better then USA. That is just awsome!!
We are in the best of the best of european league. Way too cool

well im pretty surprised to see the uk down the rankings. i thought we had a pretty relaxed press, the tabloids will print anything! wonder what the readerships like though. is the percentage the same in the us as it is in france or less? these are perhaps just as imporatnt questions because it doesnt matter how free your press is if noone reads it.

ok just read the reason for uk being so low, because of northern ireland. paramilitaries threatning journalists, bit of a shame really as i think we would have been alot higher if it werent for this.

Now there is an interesting list. I am not really surprised about the US's standing as much as I was surprised about some of the countries ahead of the US. Germany? Really!?!

germany's not the fascist country it once was you know. its a very liberal country in alot of respects, similar to the netherlands but without the crazy drugs laws.

Originally posted by mpcsmith7
germany's not the fascist country it once was you know.

It is not that, but instead just the general feeling that I had went I spent time touring Germany several years ago. It is difficult to explain and I do not wish to insult any germans on this forum.

How exactly are these rankings assessed?

The website wouldn't open for me apart from the 2004 list (see, they ARE out to get me! ), but I noticed that Australia dropped from 12th on Netchicken's list to 41st on the Oct 2004 one. A search of the Net indicated that the lists have only been released since 2002, which means that Australia has dropped nearly 30 places in, at the most, two years (although it should perhaps be at 140 considering that Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer own it all). That seems like an arbitrary change in ranking.

www.theage.com.au
theage.com.au...
But Australia's lowly ranking came as no surprise after it came under fire in the RSF's 2004 annual
report released earlier this year.
In particular, the watchdog criticised Australia's policies restricting press access to refugees.
It said in the report that the Australian government "continued to prevent journalists from covering
the situation of refugees held in camps on Australian territory or in neighbouring countries".

The Australian governments treatment of this issue has been deplorable, but one incident should not drop a country that far in rankings, which are assumed to be an overall assessment.

Can anyone get access to the website and do a comparison for other countries ranking changes from one release to the next?

Well is it that suprising that US got a low rate?
Americans are not born ignorant, they are made ignorant by the media.
With a number of free and strong independent newspapers, tvstations and radiostation Bush would not made the case in Iraq for example. A greate deal of the Bush voters still belives that iraq hade business with Bin Laden and his gang. How come?
Bill Clinton had a blowjob in the Oval office, Bush f**ks the world...and the media dont care..

US got a media system that are dived between five corporations, thats more or less a monopoly and can easily be directed in any choosen direction.

[edit on 27-10-2004 by Kollapse]

[edit on 27-10-2004 by Kollapse]