US ranked 135th of 166 countries on freedom of the press

[DavidByron]

US ranked 135th of 166 countries on freedom of the press by Reporters Without Borders.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8247

[Liquid Sunshine]

Yes, I have seen that article before.   However, I have to note that your statement is misleading.  The US press in Iraq is 135th.  The US press within US territories is tied with Greece for 31st.  Still not a great number for the home of freedom of the press, but not nearly the sensationalism of saying the US is 135th.

[DavidByron]

The US got that low number for murdering about a couple of dozen journalists.  If the number of deaths was averaged out I do not think they'd score very well.  But really they should be added together not averaged.  The same administration causes the problems in both countries.

This is an old trick.  Whenever the US wants to make itself sound more democratic the empire's colonies are ignored.   But that's not realistic is it?  America is not a democracy currently for example because millions of people live under military occupation.  America is tilting more openly to being a military fascist state at home too of course, but the fact is tens of millions of people under US rule live in a dictatorship already.

The only reason to consider the mainland-only figures seperately would be if you disregarded the lives of Iraqis or the journalists covering Iraq.

[Liquid Sunshine]

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.

I'll be quite honest ahead of time and say that I don't know the individual circumstances behind the reporters' deaths.  But war is messy business.  Any reporter that goes over into the midst of war is facing extreme peril.  What I wonder is if the US is being penalized for not ensuring the safety of the press in those nations.

But then I also have to wonder, if that is true, is that really the army's job?

[DavidByron]

They've got one of the murders on video tape.  That would be the incident where the US tank shot into the hotel where the journalists were all staying.  There were the usual contradictory denials and "explanations" at the time and since.  Most revolved around claiming that someone shot at the US first, which the film disproves.

Then there was the assassination of the Al-Jazeera journalist and camera man.  Of course the US has targeted Al-Jazeera before now -- they blew up their offices in Afghanistan.  And in Serbia the US bombed local TV studios too.  All war crimes of course.

War is a messy business?  Almost as many journalists died as US soldiers.

Anyway judging by the low ranking the reporters are not convinced it was a series of "accidents".

The point is that it is the same regime in US as in Iraq so by separating out the two the survey artificially makes the regime look better.   Take North Korea for example - the country listed last.  Let's say almost all of the incidents that earned a bad reputation happened in the country's capital, Pyongyang.  If you came along and artifically divided the incidents into two groups in-capital and out-of-capital and then ignored the in-capital results you'd probably find North Korea had results quite like the US.  One very low (but not bottom) result, and one that looks not too bad.

[Sh0t]

Odd listing to me.

I'm actually writing a book on the history of the FCC/FRC and the unholy alliances that came together to push the radio act through.

To make a long story short, our press(as in printing press) is pretty free(private companies passing on stuff isn't censorship), but the airwaves are tools to manipulate you, even if it doesn't appear so.