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Finland No. 1, US sinks to 46th in global press freedom rankings
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Yahoo! News
Posted: February 24th, 2014
http://news.yahoo.com/finland--1--us-sinks-to-46th-in-global...
The United States did not live up to the promise of the First Amendment last year, far from it, sinking to 46th in global press freedom rankings, a respected international nonprofit group said. The U.S. plummeted 13 slots to 46th overall amid increased efforts to track down whistle-blowers and the sources of leaks, Reporters Without Borders warned in an annual report. The trial and conviction of Private Bradley Manning and the pursuit of NSA analyst Edward Snowden were warnings to all those thinking of assisting in the disclosure of sensitive information that would clearly be in the public interest, the organization said. The group ... also cited the Department of Justices seizure of Associated Press telephone records and a courts pressure on New York Times reporter James Risen to testify against a CIA staffer accused of leaking classified information. The whistle-blower is clearly the enemy in the U.S., Delphine Halgand, who heads the RSF outpost in Washington, told Yahoo News. Eight whistle-blowers have been charged under the Obama administration, the highest number of any administration, of all other administrations combined. Overall, RSF said in its report, 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, the group said.
Note: As if to underscore the sad state of US press freedom, we couldn't find any major media who reported this sad news, other than a Washington Post blog at this link, which simply downplays the news and tries to explain it away. To read how the media censors some of the biggest stories never reported, click here.
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