Obviously the greatest headline news being avoided this week by the major US media is the free press rating list of the “Reporters Without Borders” based in Paris, France, since the US has consistently fallen from its initial top 10% rankingof 17th when the list started down to 53rd this year.
I did LOTS of search integration this morning and came up with the following compilation from numerous sources, who obviously dealt with tie scores in different ways, then, if you want to skip my own compilation, I finally found the entire listing, but without explanator notes as to the scoring, which is included.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
The US continues to fall from its initial 17th place, edge of top 10%, to 53rd, edge of top 1/3, due to the practice of jailing reporters for political reasons– Joshua Wolf, who refused to yield a videotape of some political protestors to a grand jury, not to mention, of course, the whole Valerie Plame thing about a fake weapons of mass destruction report concerning Iraq in which a reporter spent her next half year in jail.
Inaddition, Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj who works for Al-Jazeera has been held in Guantanamo since June of 2002 without being charged and an Associated Press photographer named Bilal Hussein is being held in the Iraq jails by the US since April.
National Security” and “The War On Terrorism” trumps freedom of the press according to many reports.
Denmark dropped from tied for 1st to 19th because the Mohammed cartoons were given a very bad time and some police protection was required for the journalists.
1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Ireland
4. Netherlands
5. Czech Republic
6. Estonia
7. Norway
8. Slovakia
9. Switzerland.
10. Tie:
10. Hungary
10. Latvia
10. Portugal
10. Slovenia
15. Top 15 all reported to be north European
16. Bolivia big move
16. Austria
16. Canada
19. Bosnia Herzegovina
19. Denmark was tied for 1st
19. New Zealand
19. Trinidad & Tobago
23. Benin
26. Namibia
27. United Kingdom
28.
29.
30.
31. South Korea
32. Greece
32. Mauritius
34. Ghana was 66
35. France was 30 lost 24 places since 1st list
35. Australia
35. Bulgaria
35. Mali
39. Panama was 76
40. Italy
43. Taiwan
44. South Africa
45. Macedonia
45. Cape Verda
45. Mozambique
45. Serbia & Montenegro
48.
51. Japan was 37
52.
53. United States was 44 in 2005, 17 in 2002, the 1st list
53. Botswana
53. Croatia
53. Tonga
57.
58. Hong Kong was 39 in 2005 and 18 in 2002 on the 1st list
58. Fiji
58. Poland
58. Romania or 61, depending
62.
66. Togo was 95
66. Madagascar was 97
73. Kuwait
75. Brazil
76. Argentina
77. Mauritania was 138 in 2004
78. Senegal
79. United Arab Emirates, perhaps 77, or a tie as listed twice
80. Qatar
85. Moldova
89. Georgia
95. Niger
95. Seychelles was 72 down due to tough election
98. Ivory Coast/Cote d'Ivoire was 139
103. Indonesia
105. India
106. Ukraine
107. Lebanon was 56 1st survey
109. Jordan
112. Camaroon
125. Burundi was 90
126. Algeria
135. Israel
137. Equatorial Guinea
140. Zimbabwe
141. Sri Lanka was 51st in 2002
142. Philippines
142. Congo
144. Somalia
146. Singapore
147. Russia
149. Gambia
149. Yemen down 4
151. Belarus
154. Iraq
157. Palastinian Authority
Worst on the list were:
159. Nepal listed twice this way
160. Ethiopia was 131
155. Turkmenistan
156. Eritrea
157. Cuba
158. Burma
159. China
160. Iran
161. Saudi Arabia
or another reversed those near N. Korea
155. Saudi Arabia
156. Iran
157. China
158. Burma
159. Cuba
160. Eritrea 166 on one report
161, Turkmenistan 167
162. North Korea [last]
161. Saudi Arabia
163, China
164. Burma
165. Cuba
166. Eritrea
167. Turkmenistan
168. North Korea
Ah. . .after all my searches I finally keyed in large numbers of the countries listed above and got ONE last big hit!
1 Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Ireland 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50
5 Czech Republic 0,75
6 Estonia 2,00
- Norway 2,00
8 Slovakia 2,50
- Switzerland 2,50
10 Hungary 3,00
- Latvia 3,00
- Portugal 3,00
- Slovenia 3,00
14 Belgium 4,00
- Sweden 4,00
16 Austria 4,50
- Bolivia 4,50
- Canada 4,50
19 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,00
- Denmark 5,00
- New Zealand 5,00
- Trinidad and Tobago 5,00
23 Benin 5,50
- Germany 5,50
- Jamaica 5,50
26 Namibia 6,00
27 Lithuania 6,50
- United Kingdom 6,50
29 Costa Rica 6,67
30 Cyprus 7,50
31 South Korea 7,75
32 Greece 8,00
- Mauritius 8,00
34 Ghana 8,50
35 Australia 9,00
- Bulgaria 9,00
- France 9,00
- Mali 9,00
39 Panama 9,50
40 Italy 9,90
41 El Salvador 10,00
- Spain 10,00
43 Taiwan 10,50
44 South Africa 11,25
45 Cape Verde 11,50
- Macedonia 11,50
- Mozambique 11,50
- Serbia and Montenegro 11,50
49 Chile 11,63
50 Israel 12,00
51 Japan 12,50
52 Dominican Republic 12,75
53 Botswana 13,00
- Croatia 13,00
- Tonga 13,00
- United States of America 13,00
57 Uruguay 13,75
58 Fiji 14,00
- Hong-Kong 14,00
- Poland 14,00
- Romania 14,00
62 Central African Republic 14,50
- Cyprus (North) 14,50
- Guinea-Bissau 14,50
- Honduras 14,50
66 Madagascar 15,00
- Togo 15,00
68 Ecuador 15,25
69 Nicaragua 15,50
70 Burkina Faso 16,00
- Kosovo 16,00
- Lesotho 16,00
73 Congo 17,00
- Kuwait 17,00
75 Brazil 17,17
76 Argentina 17,30
77 Mauritania 17,50
- Senegal 17,50
- United Arab Emirates 17,50
80 Albania 18,00
- Qatar 18,00
82 Paraguay 18,25
83 Timor-Leste 18,50
84 Liberia 19,00
85 Moldova 19,17
86 Mongolia 19,25
87 Haiti 19,50
88 Tanzania 19,82
89 Georgia 21,00
90 Guatemala 21,25
91 Angola 21,50
92 Malaysia 22,25
93 Comoros 22,50
- Zambia 22,50
95 Niger 24,50
- Seychelles 24,50
97 Morocco 24,83
98 Bhutan 25,00
- Côd'Ivoire 25,00
- Turkey 25,00
101 Armenia 25,50
- Malawi 25,50
103 Indonesia 26,00
- Sierra Leone 26,00
105 India 26,50
- Ukraine 26,50
107 Lebanon 27,00
108 Cambodia 27,25
109 Guinea 27,50
- Jordan 27,50
111 Bahrein 28,00
112 Cameroon 28,25
- Peru 28,25
114 Gabon 28,50
115 Venezuela 29,00
116 Uganda 29,83
117 Tajikistan 30,00
118 Kenya 30,25
119 USA Territories 31,50
120 Nigeria 32,23
121 Djibouti 33,00
122 Thailand 33,50
123 Kyrgyzstan 34,00
124 Chad 35,50
125 Burundi 39,83
126 Algeria 40,00
127 Swaziland 40,50
128 Kazakhstan 41,00
- Rwanda 41,00
130 Afghanistan 44,25
131 Colombia 44,75
132 Mexico 45,83
133 Egypt 46,25
134 Palestinian Authority 46,75
135 Azerbaijan 47,00
- Israel (Territorial) 47,00
137 Bangladesh 48,00
- Equatorial Guinea 48,00
139 Sudan 48,13
140 Zimbabwe 50,00
141 Sri Lanka 50,75
142 Democratic Republic Congo51,00
- Philippines 51,00
144 Maldives 51,25
- Somalia 51,25
146 Singapore 51,50
147 Russia 52,50
148 Tunisia 53,75
149 Gambia 54,00
- Yemen 54,00
151 Belarus 57,00
152 Libya 62,50
153 Syria 63,00
154 Iraq 66,83
155 Vietnam 67,25
156 Laos 67,50
157 Pakistan 70,33
158 Uzbekistan 71,00
159 Nepal 73,50
160 Ethiopia 75,00
161 Saudi Arabia 76,00
162 Iran 90,88
163 China 94,00
164 Burma 94,75
165 Cuba 95,00
166 Eritrea 97,50
167 Turkmenistan 98,50
168 North Korea 109,00