WORLD: Press freedom suffers in US, flourishes in Europe

WORLD: Press freedom suffers in US, flourishes in Europe
Newest RSF report reveals changes in global press freedom index, but North Korea
still ranked last

Taipei Times
Friday, October 21, 2005

Paris --- European countries lead the world in providing press freedoms to
media, while the US has lost ground due mainly to the jailing earlier this year
of a New York Times reporter, an international media advocacy group said in an
annual report.

North Korea retained the last spot on the 167-country World Press Freedom Index
for this year published yesterday by Reporters Without Borders. Among the other
"black holes" for media are Eritrea (166th) and Turkmenistan (165th), the group
said in an advance statement.

Iraq was 157th on the list, which said the safety of journalists became even
more precarious this year than the year before. A total of 72 media workers have
been killed since the US-led fighting began in March 2003, with at least 24
journalists and their assistants killed this year.

The US dropped more than 20 spots to 44th place, mainly due to the imprisonment
of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and judicial action that was
"undermining the privacy of journalistic sources," the statement said.

Miller spent 85 days in jail for initially refusing to reveal the source who
disclosed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. She was released
this month after agreeing to testify before a grand jury.

The top 10 countries on the list are European, led by Denmark, Finland, Ireland,
Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, where "robust press freedom is alive and
well."

Other Western democracies slipped in the index, including Canada (21) for
decisions that turned some journalists into "court auxiliaries" and France (30)
after court-ordered searches of media offices and interrogations of journalists,
the group said.

Press freedom deteriorated in Mexico (135th), where two journalists were
murdered and a third disappeared this year, and Cuba (161st), where two
journalists were jailed in this year in addition to the 21 who have been held
since a March 2003 crackdown, the group said.

In Haiti (117th), journalists still face "high-risk working conditions," that
include threats and murder, despite greater press freedoms since the ouster of
former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the group said.

A growing number of African and Latin American countries have earned higher
rankings in the index, including Benin (25th) and El Salvador (28th), a
still-fragile democracy after years of civil war.

Argentina rose to 59th place "because there were fewer physical attacks on
journalists" and laws limiting press freedoms were relaxed, the group said.

Date Posted: 10/21/2005
.

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