4 ms·

In other news... US ranked #43 for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders. https://rsf.org/en/ranking https://rsf.org/en/ranking

tptacek 9y ago
Unsurprisingly, the US is in the "Fairly Good" bracket on RSF's index. This is despite the fact that it has a lower "abuse" score, which is based on documented incidents and not survey results, than Germany, the largest European country with "Good" status. If you read the 87-question RSF survey, you'll see that it's pretty unlikely that the US will ever break into the top "Good" bracket, despite the fact that we don't have state control of the media (some "Good" countries, including Belgium, actually license journalists), the fact that we lead the world in the education of journalists (I'm not making a big deal about that --- the questionnaire does), and the fact that virtually everyone who wants to function as an online journalist has adequate internet access; the questionnaire is also full of subjective questions that have more to do with assessments by journalists of the culture. So regardless of the status of our laws, the fact that journalists fear cultural reputational damage for challenging power, for instance, is going to weight the US down. Expect the score to drop precipitously next year, by the way: the questionnaire directly asks, in multiple questions, whether the government attempts to discredit the media. I think the Trump administration is a travesty and that their treatment of the press is actually a significant indicator of how much of a travesty it is. But it's frustrating that the hallmark of a truly free press is its ability to continue functioning despite brickbats thrown from the administration. Our free press will be challenged in the next few years as it hasn't been challenged for many decades prior, and I expect our system will persevere. Despite that fact, our RSF score will drop as a result of us weathering those challenges. So, I'm not a fan of the RSF methodology or really of any of these indices. But if you look at the underlying data I think you'll see that "ranked #43" isn't as interesting as it sounds.

tptacek 9y ago

Unsurprisingly, the US is in the "Fairly Good" bracket on RSF's index. This is despite the fact that it has a lower "abuse" score, which is based on documented incidents and not survey results, than Germany, the largest European country with "Good" status. If you read the 87-question RSF survey, you'll see that it's pretty unlikely that the US will ever break into the top "Good" bracket, despite the fact that we don't have state control of the media (some "Good" countries, including Belgium, actually license journalists), the fact that we lead the world in the education of journalists (I'm not making a big deal about that --- the questionnaire does), and the fact that virtually everyone who wants to function as an online journalist has adequate internet access; the questionnaire is also full of subjective questions that have more to do with assessments by journalists of the culture. So regardless of the status of our laws, the fact that journalists fear cultural reputational damage for challenging power, for instance, is going to weight the US down. Expect the score to drop precipitously next year, by the way: the questionnaire directly asks, in multiple questions, whether the government attempts to discredit the media. I think the Trump administration is a travesty and that their treatment of the press is actually a significant indicator of how much of a travesty it is. But it's frustrating that the hallmark of a truly free press is its ability to continue functioning despite brickbats thrown from the administration. Our free press will be challenged in the next few years as it hasn't been challenged for many decades prior, and I expect our system will persevere. Despite that fact, our RSF score will drop as a result of us weathering those challenges. So, I'm not a fan of the RSF methodology or really of any of these indices. But if you look at the underlying data I think you'll see that "ranked #43" isn't as interesting as it sounds.