the united states just finished 46th in a press-freedom contest - conor friedersdorf - the atlantic

7/27/2019 The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic

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CONOR FRIEDERSDORF FEB 13 2014, 5:56 AM ET

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Every year, Reporters Without Borders ranks 180 countries in order of how

well they safeguard press freedom. This year, the United States suffered a

precipitous drop.

The latest Press Freedom Indexranked the U.S. 46th.

That puts us around the same place as UC Santa Barbara in the U.S. News and

World Reportcollege rankings. If we were on the PGA tour we'd be Jonas Blixt

of Sweden.

If we were onAmerican Idolwe'd have been sent home already.

Countries that scored better include Romania, South Africa, Ghana, Cyprus,

and Botswana. And 40 others. Put simply, it 's an embarrassing result for the

country that conceived the First Amendment almost 240 years ago. These

rankings are always a bit arbitrary, but we're not anywhere close to the top tier

these days. Why?

The report explains:

... the heritage of the 1776 constitution was shaken to its foundations during

George W. Bushs two terms as president by the way journalists were

The United States Just Finished 46thin a Press-Freedom ContestAt least the birthplace of the First Amendment managed to come in one spot ahead of Haiti.

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harassed and even imprisoned for refusing to reveal their sources or

surrender their files to federal judicial officials. There has been little

improvement in practice under Barack Obama. Rather than pursuing

journalists, the emphasis has been on going after their sources, but often

using the journalist to identify them. No fewer that eight individuals have

been charged under the Espionage Actsince Obama became president,

compared with three during Bushs two terms. While 2012 was in part the

year of WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange, 2013 will be remember for

the National Security Agency computer specialist Edward Snowden, who

exposed the mass surveillance methods developed by the US intelligenceagencies.

Elsewhere it notes:

US journalists were stunned by the Department of Justices seizure

ofAssociated Pressphone recordswithout warning in order to identify the

source of a CIA leak. It served as a reminder of the urgent need for a shield

law to protect the confidentiality of journalists sourcesat the federal

level. The revival of the legislative process is little consolation for James

Risen of The New York Times, who is subject to a court order to testify

against a former CIA employee accused of leaking classified information.

And less still for Barrett Brown, a young freelance journalist facing 105

years in prisonin connection with the posting of information that hackers

obtained from Statfor, a private intelligence company with close ties to the

federal government.

Some Americans reading those critiques will object that terrorism is a real

threat, and insist that national security and freedom of the press must be

balanced. Even if you agree in principle, consider the countries that rank

highest on the 2014 Press Freedom Index. Here are the top 10: Finland,

Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Denmark, Iceland,

New Zealand, and Sweden.

Raise your hand if you're afraid to visit any of those countries.

Does anyone truly believe that the way they treat the press is imperiling their

security, or that America couldn't prosper even if it was as friendly to the press

as Finland? Does Team Obama believe that the terrorists are going to win in

Sweden, New Zealand, and Iceland because their balance is too press-freedom

friendly?

Take it from Lee Greenwood. "I'm proud to be an American because at least I

know I'm freer than 47th-ranked Haiti" just doesn't have the same

exceptionalist ring to it.

The index methodology is here. Having looked it over, I still want the U.S. to be

on top next year. How about you?

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corruptintenz

Its a good thing in a way, where it demonstrates that there is nothing intrinsically

'exceptional' about the US, but that this 'exceptionalism' can only ever be an output of

independent critical thought, integrity, hard work, and vigilance.

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So, I'd certainly like to see us

reform our behavior and laws to move up the ranking, but I'm not too worried

about Andorra being ahead of us.

B Savagewood - PI

And people ask me why I've turned so sharply against Obama and see him no

differently than Bush in a number of extremely important ways.

Carpe Pectora

Other than extending the Patriot Act, pushing for unconstitutional powers in the

NDAA2012, bombing Libya, Sudan, Pakistan and Somalia, expanding the war in

Afghanistan, continuing military tribunals, attempting to start a major war in

Syria, prosecuting more government whistle blowers than any administration in

history and wiretapping, intimidating and harassing the press-----

How is Obama in any way comparable to Bush???

thirstydc

The Bush administration created the Patriot Act, created wars inAfghanistan and Iraq, began the drone campaigns, opened

Guantanamo, and was still president while the NSA was doing its thing.

One could argue the Constitutionality of the NDAA2012, but it's

disingenuous to say that Obama tried to start a war in Syria. And as for

prosecuting whistle blowers, I am fairly certain that the law does not

consider Snowden a whistle blower.

Carpe Pectora

"The Bush administration created the Patriot Act" and the

Obama administration has extended it three t imes.

"created wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" and the Obama

administration expanded these into Pakistan, Somalian, Sudan

and Libya.

"was still president while the NSA was doing its thing" as has

Obama

"it's disingenuous to say that Obama tried to s tart a war in

Syria." Are you just flat out insane or just a blindly partisan hack?

"I am fairly certain that the law does not consider Snowden a

whistle blower." I didn't even mention him. Prior to Obama's

election three people had been charged under the 1917

Espionage act. (That is three in almost 100 years!) Under Obama

there have been 8 people charged. 3 in 100 years. 8 in five. How


5/12

does that math work for you??

Carpe Pectora

Actually I must correct myself on one point. I said

The Obama administration was "prosecuting more government

whistle blowers than any administration in history "

In truth the Obama administration has prosecuted twice as many

whistle blowers under the Espionage Act than all the presidents

in the previous 100 years combined.

My bad.

sunnyroberto

Patriot Act passed 98-1. Biden, Kerry, Hilary all voted for it. Only

Russ Feingold voted against it. But yeah, it's Bush's fault.

knowltok

I'm not happy with the examples provided, but given that the balance between

security and press freedom is real, comparing the US to Lichtenstein, Andorra, etc. is

rather meaningless to me. Those are meaningless comparisons.

I also find this sentence, "Does Team Obama believe that the terrorists are going to

win in Sweden, New Zealand, and Iceland because their balance is too press-freedom

friendly?" to be a rather false dichotomy. I don't like the idea that we've taken on the

role of global policeman, but we have taken on that role, and as such, at least in that

regard we are exceptional (literal meaning, not some holy mandate). New Zealand can

worry less about global signals intelligence because we are worrying about it. They

can also worry about it less because we do most of the meddling (for good and ill) that

puts a target on our backs.

None of that is meant to be a, "Poor America" rant. Again, I'd rather we restructure a

bit to back away from that role. I know and acknowledge that many around the world

didn't ask for us to take this role, nor do they appreciate our taking it. Simply it is an

attempt to point out that the US has security concerns that many other nations simplydon't. A case could be made for our security being damaged by a potential leak

(launch codes, weapon technical specs, agent identities, etc.). Can anyone make the

case for what secret once revealed would compromise Lichtenstein's security? Well,

besides Switzerland finding out that one of their neighbors maintains zero military

(oops).

So, I'd certainly like to see us reform our behavior and laws to move up the ranking,

but I'm not too worried about Andorra being ahead of us.

TakuanSoho

These sort of rankings are worse than meaningless since all they do is reflect

the bias of the people making the rankings. They are not an attempt to be a realhonest, objective ranking. They give that away with their focus on unique

events such as Snowden, instead of systemic issues.

A perfect example are the various "pro feminine" world rankings where the US

is equal to the Sudan because it restricted late term abortions (this one got into

the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World). Now, one can be passionate about

the rights of women to have late term abortions, but the inability to distinguish

that there is almost no women in the world who would rather live in the Sudan

than in the US sort of makes you wonder about the authors.

Billy Randell

I get your point, and there is at least some validity to it, but I'd also like to push


6/12

ac on a . any o e coun res a e op en o e s were nvove n

at least some fashion with all the various actions in the Terror Wars (or

whatever we're calling it these days). There were are also concrete dangers

posed by the exercise of free press/speech in the Netherlands (attacks back

and forth between islamic conservatives and right wing nationalists, bot

christian and secular) and the whole blowup over the printing of the cartoons

with depictions of Mohammed in Scandinavia (sorry, can't recall exactly which

country that was at present). They also face many of the same dangers we do

with internal terrorism from nationalist or christian fundamentalist groups,

especially those countries with more lax firearms regulation. The overall point

I'm trying to make here is that it's not like all of these countries are total naifs

and don't face any dangers or repercussions for their freedoms. I think they

have weighed the societal risk/benefit calculus and decided that freedom of the

press and expression is more important than security from international

terrorism.

Also, as another quick aside, we should strive to keep in mind that it's not just

us in America whose freedoms suffer from all of this. We're also using these

wars as an excuse to help prop up dirty regimes who inflict all sorts of

malfeasance on their own press and citizens. Not to mention all of the innocent

civilians living in these war zones who are often literally in crossfire in our global

police actions. I'm not bringing this up to say that you're ignorant of it or being

callow, I just think it's an important point to bring up alongside the one you

made.

knowltok

Thank you, and I do agree and acknowledge those points. I would

counter though that we lost 'points' on the national security front, not

the, print a cartoon front.

Also, while I acknowledge that nations like The Netherlands can and do

face danger from international terrorism, my point is more that the US,

as the leader in the global war on terrorism (much as that phrase can be

used and abused) has more secrets to guard, and thus is in a different

situation with regards to those nations. Again I'll mention things like

launch codes and weapon specs. The first nuclear power on the list is

the UK at 33 and while Germany clocks in at 14, they do ban various

political parties, so we should keep in mind that this rating isn't a

universal free speech rating.

Conor_Friedersdorf

We didn't lose points for drone killings or other national security

moves unrealated to press freedoms.

knowltok

That's nice, but not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the

things you mention (NSA leaks, classified CIA leaks, etc.).

Whether they are valid or not may be debatable, but I do think

they fall under the broad category of national security.

JBcolo

Read the methodology of the ranking. Lots of mathy-looking stuff, but garbage in -

garbage out. It's not to say this is without meaning, but neither is an "oil freedom

index' or some such BS published by the Petroleum Institute, or some other industry

trade goup ranking jurisdictional friendliness to its own interests. It's a listicle. It's

Rolling Stone's list of the Hundred Most Influential Artists of All Time, and somehow

Justin Bieber is beating out Madonna who is beating out Bob Dylan.

edit - link to methodology: http://rsf.org/index2014/data/...


7/12

Conor_Friedersdorf

But isn't friendliness to the interests of Reporters Without Borders at least

substantially tied to the thing they're purporting to measure?

JBcolo

I dunno? Maybe?. This sort of ranking always seems to be a way of

dressing up something inherently qualitative in quantitative clothing, so

that it sounds like data, when it is really opinion. It's a deceptive plea for

numerical authority, when really there is none. It's not just Reporters

Without Borders, lots of advocacy groups do it, but it seems to me that

they do it at the expense of the truth and their own credibility. I certainly

would feel a lot safer as a journalist doing hard hitting (or soft hitting)

journalism that exposed state corruption and links to organized crime or

exposing state secrets in the United States than I would in El Salvador,

but according to this anecdotal ranking that is incorrect. Furthermore, I

know they have to limit the scope somewhere, otherwise it just

becomes a 'list of countries in the order we like them' (which it already

kinda is, but I digress). Anyway, having things like ubiquitous potable

water, and predictable, if not reliable electricity, and not having to bribe

low level officials and policemen on a day to day basis really does make

a difference in actual freedom, and actual press freedom to be able to

send emails, and not die from cholera, or have your I-phone taken by

the police, not because it might hold secrets, but because it can be soldfor a month's salary. Lastly, I think including microstates which are as

small or smaller than many mid-size metropolitan cities is really an

apples to oranges comparison, or maybe grapes to water mellons. It's

like comparing a small town in Wisconsin that goes from never having

had a murder in a hundred years, to being 'worse' than Cuidad Juarez

because some guy murdered his wife and the dude she was in the sack

with.

matimal

And we all know about it because of that American invention.....the internet. These

sanctimonious self-appointed organizations always miss the forest for the trees.

Corey McDonald

The point is that the "people sharing this information online" are being

persecuted to bring us the truth. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look

up Bradley Manning. He's doing hard time because he thought the rest of us

should know that America accidentally shot up a bunch of Reuter's reporters

after we tried to cover it up. (look up "collateral murder" online)

Carpe Pectora

Or Edward Snowden, who thought Americans should know they no

longer have fourth amendment rights.

Arcite

46 out of 180 is around 75%. That's like a B+, in other words not bad but with room for

improvement.

His Noodly Appendage

Since when is a 75 a B+?

Carpe Pectora

I'm guessing he always thought he got a B+ in math!


8/12

A 75% is a middling C.

ltf

75% appears to be an A in the UK.

ltf

If you had asked "Where" instead of "Since when" the answer probably

would be almost everywhere but the USA. Getting one's mind around

America's grading system is only slightly easier than switching fromdriving on the left to driving on the right and learning that when

Americans use the term "fanny" they are not being nearly as crude as

you think they are.

jdmuuc

It's a ranking, not a score. The 75th percentile is in the upper second

quintile. If grades are normally distributed, scores between the 60th and

80th percentile should be B's, so 75 is squarely a B+.

Carpe Pectora

46th in press freedom. 33rd in education. 51st in life expectancy.

But still #1 in prison population, military spending and spying!

Corey McDonald

Median wealth is 27th in the world too (behind Kuwait and Cyprus). Everyone

who says America #1 has an ethnocentric viewpoint. I'm not saying we need to

be #1, but let's not automatically give ourselves a rubber stamp "A" on

everything.

Buckland

The reality is that way too many members of the press have been hesitant to challengethe administration in their ruthless attempts to control the news. They so want to

preserve their place on the Washington social roster. And if such a greater good

means that other reporters from the Associated Press or Fox News are need to be

taught a lesson, well that's an acceptable price. Can you imagine the heartache of

being chosen to represent your newspaper in Washington DC only to be frozen out of

the best parties. No reporter could allow that to happen.

So offenses against the press get back page play. Just like offenses against

conservative groups from the IRS. Enemies lists about, but at least the public

advocates get to see and be seen with the beautiful people at the soirees of the

overlords.

TakuanSoho

>The reality is that way too many members of the press have been hesitant

to challenge the administration in their ruthless attempts to control

the news.

the united states just finished 46th in a press-freedom contest - conor friedersdorf - the atlantic

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