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U.S. Now Ranked 32nd in World Press Freedom
In a study by the International media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, the United States dropped to the 32nd place in 2002 out of the 166 countries surveyed. The index is based on input by journalists, researchers, and legal experts.
According to the group, the ranking "reflects the degree of freedom that journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts undertaken by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom."
The listings below are based on the study. The left-hand column lists the top 50 countries; the right-hand column the bottom 50.
| 1 Finland 2 Iceland 3 Netherlands 4- Norway 5 Denmark 6 Trinidad and Tobago 7 Belgium 8 Germany 9 Sweden 10 Canada 11 Latvia 12 Czech Republic 13 Estonia 14 Slovakia 15 Switzerland 16 Austria 17 Ireland 18 Lithuania 19 New Zealand 20 Slovenia 21 Hungary 22 Jamaica 23 South Africa 24 Costa Rica 25 Uruguay 26 France 27 United Kingdom 28 Portugal 29 Benin 30 Timor-Leste 31 Greece 32 United States of America 33 Poland 34 Albania 35 Bulgaria 36 Nicaragua 37 Bosnia and Herzegovina 38 Chile 39 El Salvador 40 Paraguay 41 Mauritius 42 Ecuador 43 Spain 44 Israel (Israeli territory) 45 Japan 46 Madagascar 47 Cape Verde 48 Ghana 49 South Korea 50 Australia (next column picks up at #116) |
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In the past, press freedom has been significantly higher in the United States. With the reporters that were jailed in 2004, the U.S. may now drop even further in the rankings.
These rankings prompted one influential foreign newspaper to ask in an editorial whether the United States can still legitimately consider itself the "land of the free."
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