The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
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7/27/2019 The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
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The Evolution of
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The Origin of
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By Daniel B. Klein
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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7/27/2019 The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
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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
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7/27/2019 The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
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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
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7/27/2019 The United States Just Finished 46th in a Press-Freedom Contest - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
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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/...
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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!
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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.