U.S. Drops to 49th in World Press Freedom Rankings, Worst Since Obama Became Pres.

Quote:

Each year, Reporters Without Borders issues a worldwide ranking of nations based on the extent to which they protect or abridge press freedom. The group’s 2015 ranking was released this morning, and the United States is ranked 49th. That is the lowest ranking ever during the Obama presidency, and the second-lowest ranking for the U.S. since the rankings began in 2002 (in 2006, under Bush, the U.S. was ranked 53rd). The countries immediately ahead of the U.S. are Malta, Niger, Burkino Faso, El Salvador, Tonga, Chile and Botswana. ... It should come as no surprise that the U.S. continues to plummet in press freedoms under Obama. In October, 2013, the Committee to Protect Freedom issued a scathing denunciation of the U.S. government’s attacks on press freedoms, the first time the U.S. was ever the subject of one of its reports. Written by former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie, Jr., it detailed the multiple ways the Obama administration has eroded press freedoms, and concluded: The administration’s war on leaks and other efforts to control information are the most aggressive I’ve seen since the Nixon administration, when I was one of the editors involved in The Washington Post’s investigation of Watergate. The 30 experienced Washington journalists at a variety of news organizations whom I interviewed for this report could not remember any precedent. That warning echoed the one previously issued by James Goodale, the General Counsel of the New York Times during the Pentagon Papers battle, who said: “President Obama wants to criminalize the reporting of national security information” and “President Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom.”

http://ift.tt/1vqMOla



Probably no surprise, since I imagine that countries like, say, Denmark, have few reasons to suppress reporting of government activities, at least compared to a huge national-security state like the US. Nevertheless, if :qunq:the troops:qunq: are gonna fight for our freedoms, it appears that press freedom is one that they needn't bother too much with.



[And, yeah, for the neo-cons in the audience, I know your response, so I'll save you the need to respond: That worthless survey is by a bunch of commie/left-wing/socialists] Noted.



And, just one more, recent, example of US government actions in this area:

Quote:

Obama’s War on Leaks Skirts the Constitution http://www.theamericanconservative.c...-constitution/

U.S. Drops to 49th in World Press Freedom Rankings, Worst Since Obama Became Pres.