So, I ran across a ‘ranking? on-line this weekend. Nothing so funny as David Letterman’s Top 10, nor was it interesting in any shallow, ‘I want to be entertained? kind of way. Nope. This list had to do with a concept near and dear to my heart: freedom of the press, or should I say, lack there of.
Reporters Without Borders released their World Press Freedom Index 2014 recently and it kinda? bummed me out. I sorta? thought I would see the good ol? US of A, right up on top of the 180-country list as we invented the concept of the press? freedom. Much to my dismay, as I started scrolling down the list I was shocked to find the frackin? smackin? Czech Republic more highly ranked than the US.
What the . . .?
The Czech’s ranked 13th.
Finland, Netherlands and Norway were ranked, 1, 2 and 3. Ireland, No. 16. The worst places to live if you want news, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. (Before I continue, Turkmenistan, formerly known as Turkmenia, is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Turkmenistan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast and east, Afghanistan. And, Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. You and I can both chalk this column up to the old learning something new every day category because I didn’t know what a Turkmenistan or a Eritrea was either.)
Do you know where the US ranked? It ranked one spot above Haiti. Have you ever read up on the state of Hatti these days? It’s a hell hole. Haiti was 47. The US, fell 13 spots to Number 46. Son of a . . .
How can that be you may ask? Well, I reckon in ain’t too hard. Think about this, even locally, whenever one of our editorial types put in a Freedom of Information request to the local schools or government types, what do we get?
To tarnish my name, we get the bums rush. The run around. The stall. Even local governments do not like giving information to local reporters. And, that only makes reporter types more suspicious.
‘What are you trying to hide??
I have had, and do currently have great relationships with some local government types. In talking with them, I have expressed myself in this manor.
‘There should never be a time I have to FOIA you or your office. Help me. ?
(For those not in the know, FOIA means, Freedom of Information Act. When somebody in the government does not give information freely asked, that somebody can FOIA said government for the information. Civil servants then will spend taxpayer money to ask their attorneys if they can withhold the information. Depending on the attorney’s opinion, they can then decline your offer, give it to you or give it to you for a fee.)
What are they trying to hide? What secrets are so gol-darned damaging regular folks shouldn’t know?
The Reporters Without Borders group report said there were a number of reasons press freedoms are eroding: conflict and war, privatization of violence and sacrificing information to ‘national security and surveillance.?
I see no reason listed above why a local government official would try and deny the press information.
It only gets worse the higher up you go.
The report went on to say, ‘Countries that pride themselves on being democracies and respecting the rule of law have not set an example, far from it. Freedom of information is too often sacrificed to an overly broad and abusive interpretation of national security needs, marking a disturbing retreat from democratic practices. Investigative journalism often suffers as a result.?
And, further, ‘US journalists were stunned by the Department of Justice’s seizure of Associated Press phone records without warning in order to identify the source of a CIA leak . . . 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 prison in connection with the posting of information that hackers obtained from Stratfor, a private intelligence company with close ties to the federal government.?
So, I guess from the lowest levels of government to the very top, press freedoms are at the least an annoyance and at the most seen as a threat. What do you think?
Before I go, I’ll leave you with this:
‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.?
Send me your thoughts by e-mail, Don@ShermanPublications.org.