The land of the free, the United States of America has ranked 48th out of 169, in the World Press Freedom Index of 2007.
Iceland and Norway tied for first place while Cuba, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea in descending, order make up the bottom five of countries ranked.
This index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, measures press freedom by country
Freedom if the press is guaranteed in the first amendment to the United States constitution.
Many countries do not have such a provision.
The United States poor ranking is actually an improvement from the 2006 WPF index which ranked the United States 53rd.
Fewer press violations and fewer attacks on the confidentiality of sources are the reasons given for the increase.
The report specifically mentions the U.S detention of Al-Jazeera’s Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj at the military base of Guantanamo Bay, as one of the reasons for the low score 2007 score.
Al Haj has been detained for four years as a result of suspected links to Al Queda. Despite these suspicions, no charges in four years have been brought against him.
Can you imagine being arrested and kept in prison for even 4 days far less 4 years, without a single charge brought against you?
In 2005, a federal judge scentened NY Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt of court after she refused to reveal her sources.
This action defies the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights which clearly stipulates that every journalist has a right to keep his or her sources confidential.
Much of the blame has been piled generously on President Bush.
The WPF report claims that Bush and the Federal Court used the war on terror to justify negating journalist’s right to keep their sources confidential and even threatened journalists whose investigations have nothing to do with terrorism.
Here are some random countries I selected and their rank in the WPF Index
| Country | Rank |
|
Iceland and Norway |
1st |
|
Canada |
18th |
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
19th |
|
Germany |
20th |
|
United Kingdom |
24th |
|
Jamaica |
27th |
|
Romania |
42nd |
|
United States |
48th |
|
Tanzania |
55th |
|
Mexico |
120th |
|
Uganda |
96th |
|
China |
163rd |
O.K I have to go to a class. Part 2 coming soon!!!!!!!
