After OWS, U.S. Drops in Press Freedom Rankings

[DeathToTheOil]

The U.S. tumbled 27 places in the latest edition of the annual Press Freedom Index, thanks in large part to the rough treatment of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street protests that took place around the country this past year.

Last year, the U.S. came in 20th, sandwiched between the United Kingdom and Canada at 19th and 21st place, respectively. After 2011, however, the U.S. finds itself tied for 47th place with Romania and Argentina on the list, which is compiled by Reporters Without Borders, a not-for-profit advocating for press freedom around the globe.

"The crackdown on protest movements and the accompanying excesses took their toll on journalists," the group explains in the annual report. "In the space of two months in the United States, more than 25 were subjected to arrests and beatings at the hands of police who were quick to issue indictments for inappropriate behaviour, public nuisance or even lack of accreditation."

The drop is not unprecedented, however. In 2005, the U.S. ranked 53rd on the list as a result of the imprisonment of journalists and what the group called the "deteriorated" relationship between the press and the George W. Bush administration.

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/01/25/reporters_without_borders_press_freedom_index_slams_us_for_occupy_wall_street_arrests.html

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[DeathToTheOil]

2. du kick nt

[SleeplessinSoCal]

3. How many Americans will ever hear about this? I'm thinking 99.99%.

[Ganja Ninja]

4. Unfortunately it was only the media that was doing it's job that got roughed up.

As always the lazy main stream media from the major networks weren't there to cover either OWS or the bullying of working media.

[DeathToTheOil]

7. Excellent point!

[JDPriestly]

5. Crime does not pay.

Nor does the abuse of authority.

The video from the University of Irvine was seen around the world.

There were many videos of police officers denying the press access to locations where important events were occurring. What kind of freedom of the press do we have if the press can't move freely?

[xxqqqzme]

11. Univesity of Irvine? Missed that one.

I had many OWS friends camping at Irvine City Hall. They regularly attended Irvine City Council meetings and worked w/ them during the occupation. I never heard one report of any abuse or ill treatment. Spent the day w/ one of the occupiers on Wednesday. All she mentioned was the are where they had camped, had been re-seeded and new grass was growing.

[unionworks]

6. K&R n/t

[Jefferson23]

8. Highly recommend..thanks for posting. n/t

[Zorra]

9. YAY!1!1! We're number 47! We're number 47! Go, USA!

[Peace Patriot]

10. Here's the full report...

http://en.rsf.org/IMG/CLASSEMENT_2012/C_GENERAL_ANG.pdf

Reporters Without Border is not a particularly reliable organization and I see no link at this site to the methodology used to create these rankings, so that it can be evaluated. I am particularly suspicious of the ranking of Venezuela (117th) below Haiti, Guatemala and the United Arab Emirates and only a few clicks above Honduras (135th) where killing journalists is a rightwing blood sport.

RWB gives no justification for Venezuela's low rating whatsoever. And if you look at the facts in Venezuela without the screwed up bias so typical of corporate reporters, columnists and editors, you see a country with one of the most lively political cultures in the Americas, with numerous, vibrant, contending newspapers and publicly sponsored media now offering an alternative view to corporate fascism, and with the poor majority and women and minority groups having greatly improved access to media. It is also a country where a local corporate media mogul can go on TV and state that he hopes President Chavez will die of cancer, and do so with impunity. Chavez is subjected to blistering criticism and also to hatred and nastiness, in large portions of the media, and, yeah, he goes on TV and blasts back. Why shouldn't he? (I wish that our representatives in government had his nerve and his desire to communicate!)

That RCTV was de-licensed was one of the best things that happened in Venezuela and in the world. RCTV was thickly involved in the rightwing coup attempt in 2002 and actively supported the coupsters suspending the constitution, the courts, the national assembly and all civil rights, and furthermore put doctored tape and other disinformation on TV designed to foment riots and get people murdered. If ever a corporate media operator deserved to have its license pulled, it was RCTV.

It's time for democratic government--ours and others--to bust corporate media monopolies and reinstitute the notions of the Fairness Doctrine, which we had here in the U.S. until the Reagan Junta killed it. The Fairness Doctrine had primarily to do with corporate use of the PUBLIC airwaves--and strongly regulated them to produce unbiased news coverage, to broadcast alternative views, to separate the news divisions from corporate financial interests, to provide public service and to prevent monopolies of various kinds--but this Doctrine also influenced print media toward better journalism. Both print and broadcast media have greatly deteriorated, here, since the end of the Fairness Doctrine, and are mostly now just rightwing, corporate, war profiteer propaganda organs.

RWB's remarks on Venezuela in this report are substanceless. Do they object to public rivals like Telesur? Do they object to better public access to media? Do they support corporate media monopolies or corporate executives fomenting violent coups? Just what is their problem with Venezuela?

I think this ranking makes the others suspect, and until they fully explain their criteria for the rankings, and who THEY are, and who THEY get their funding from, we need to be cautious about accepting what they say. They are not in any way associated with "Doctors Without Borders" and just stole the name and association. That tells you something about them.