4 ms·

Really? Where in the US are reporters attacked and forced by authorities to film confessions for attempting to interview citizens who are appealing legal cases

Really? Where in the US are reporters attacked and forced by authorities to film confessions for attempting to interview citizens who are appealing legal cases? No comparison. Moral relativism run amok.

joe_g_young 10y ago
I heard we have a really stringent TSA agents who are questioning why our reporters are flying outside of the US and are with holding the reporter's cameras.
- John23832 10y ago
  Having "heard" is different than having actual facts to back that up. As we see from the article, there is factual reporting being done on the issues in China. While I agree that some people have it harder than others while traveling in the US (muslims), they generally have freedom of movement within the United States.
princekolt 10y ago
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/journalists-attacked-police-ferguson_n_5677098.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/journalists-attacke...
kybernetikos 10y ago
The whole point I'm making is that we don't need to pull in comparisons. We can make statements about behavior that we find unacceptable, and try to build consensus that we don't want to see those behaviors anywhere in the world. If you point me to an instance of the US doing those things I will condemn it. If you point me to an instance of China doing those things, I will condemn it. And I hope that this is true of most people across the world, and if it isn't then that is where the interesting conversations are to be had, not in which of two world powers is the most detrimental. Given the difficulties of talking about human rights and the natural tribalism of people on all sides, let's talk about specific behaviors most of us can agree are bad, regardless of who does them, and join together in condemning specific instances of those behaviors wherever they take place in the world.
soundwave106 10y ago
I personally took "does it" to be a generalized statement versus a de facto comparison. The US is not the top nation as far as press freedom is concerned; sometimes people in power restrict access to information, and sometimes reporters are actually arrested for dubious reasons (an example is when reporters cover a protest and a "street sweep" happens -- see this recent example: http://www.cjr.org/watchdog/journalist_arrested_inauguration_protest_felony.php http://www.cjr.org/watchdog/journalist_arrested_inauguration...). This is not a good thing when it happens. The good news is our legal framework is pretty strong for protecting reporters. For these reasons, RSF's current ranking of our press freedom is 41st, roughly around where France is. (https://rsf.org/en/news/united-states-ranks-41st-reporters-without-borders-2016-world-press-freedom-index https://rsf.org/en/news/united-states-ranks-41st-reporters-w...) China, in contrast, is ranked #176 (https://rsf.org/en/china https://rsf.org/en/china). Only three countries are lower: Syria, Turkmenistan, and North Korea. Obviously the same motif applies: restriction of press freedom is not a good thing. It is pretty obvious that China is by far worse in this department, and there is much more to condemn on this subject over there. (edit: bad URL)
pjc50 10y ago
Not really on the same scale, but the US (well, Idaho and Iowa) criminalises reporting in some odd places: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag
crdoconnor 10y ago
>Really? Where in the US are reporters attacked and forced by authorities to film confessions for attempting to interview citizens who are appealing legal cases? Outside of the US it happens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo "When former British Home Secretary David Blunkett published his memoirs in late 2006, it was revealed he had advised Prime Minister Tony Blair in late March 2003 to bomb the Al Jazeera television transmitter in Baghdad. "There wasn't a worry from me because I believed that this was a war and in a war you wouldn't allow the broadcast to continue taking place"

joe_g_young 10y ago

I heard we have a really stringent TSA agents who are questioning why our reporters are flying outside of the US and are with holding the reporter's cameras.

John23832 10y ago
Having "heard" is different than having actual facts to back that up. As we see from the article, there is factual reporting being done on the issues in China. While I agree that some people have it harder than others while traveling in the US (muslims), they generally have freedom of movement within the United States.

princekolt 10y ago

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/journalists-attacked-police-ferguson_n_5677098.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/journalists-attacke...

kybernetikos 10y ago

The whole point I'm making is that we don't need to pull in comparisons. We can make statements about behavior that we find unacceptable, and try to build consensus that we don't want to see those behaviors anywhere in the world. If you point me to an instance of the US doing those things I will condemn it. If you point me to an instance of China doing those things, I will condemn it. And I hope that this is true of most people across the world, and if it isn't then that is where the interesting conversations are to be had, not in which of two world powers is the most detrimental. Given the difficulties of talking about human rights and the natural tribalism of people on all sides, let's talk about specific behaviors most of us can agree are bad, regardless of who does them, and join together in condemning specific instances of those behaviors wherever they take place in the world.

soundwave106 10y ago

I personally took "does it" to be a generalized statement versus a de facto comparison. The US is not the top nation as far as press freedom is concerned; sometimes people in power restrict access to information, and sometimes reporters are actually arrested for dubious reasons (an example is when reporters cover a protest and a "street sweep" happens -- see this recent example: http://www.cjr.org/watchdog/journalist_arrested_inauguration_protest_felony.php http://www.cjr.org/watchdog/journalist_arrested_inauguration...). This is not a good thing when it happens. The good news is our legal framework is pretty strong for protecting reporters. For these reasons, RSF's current ranking of our press freedom is 41st, roughly around where France is. (https://rsf.org/en/news/united-states-ranks-41st-reporters-without-borders-2016-world-press-freedom-index https://rsf.org/en/news/united-states-ranks-41st-reporters-w...) China, in contrast, is ranked #176 (https://rsf.org/en/china https://rsf.org/en/china). Only three countries are lower: Syria, Turkmenistan, and North Korea. Obviously the same motif applies: restriction of press freedom is not a good thing. It is pretty obvious that China is by far worse in this department, and there is much more to condemn on this subject over there. (edit: bad URL)

pjc50 10y ago

Not really on the same scale, but the US (well, Idaho and Iowa) criminalises reporting in some odd places: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag

crdoconnor 10y ago

>Really? Where in the US are reporters attacked and forced by authorities to film confessions for attempting to interview citizens who are appealing legal cases? Outside of the US it happens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo "When former British Home Secretary David Blunkett published his memoirs in late 2006, it was revealed he had advised Prime Minister Tony Blair in late March 2003 to bomb the Al Jazeera television transmitter in Baghdad. "There wasn't a worry from me because I believed that this was a war and in a war you wouldn't allow the broadcast to continue taking place"