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N. Korea, Cuba worst for
press
By Marion Baillot. The
Washington Times, October 28, 2004.
North Korea, Cuba, Burma and China are
ranked among the countries with the worst
press-freedom records in an index released
by a media watchdog group this week.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders,
which defends imprisoned journalists and
press freedom throughout the world, said
East Asia and the Middle East have the "worst
press-freedom records," while northern
Europe is "a haven for journalists."
North Korea, at 167, stands at the bottom
of the list for the third year running,
preceded by Cuba at 166 and Burma at 165.
China is ranked 162, Vietnam 161, and Laos,
153. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is
ranked 159, Iran 158 and Syria 155.
The United States, at 22, is ranked below
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Trinidad and Tobago
because of "violations of source confidentiality,
persistent problems in granting press visas
and the arrest of several journalists during
anti-Bush demonstrations," the group
said Tuesday.
Reporters Without Borders said the continuing
war has made Iraq "the most deadly
place on Earth for journalists," with
44 killed there since fighting began in
March 2003.
It also ranked U.S. behavior toward the
press in Iraq separately (at 108) from the
overall situation in the country (at 148).
It said six journalists and media assistants
were killed by U.S. Army gunfire and that
the military failed to conduct proper inquiries
into the deaths.
The group said the new Iraqi government
has not yet established a framework guaranteeing
press freedom and "reacted in an authoritarian
manner toward the pan-Arab satellite TV
news stations whose coverage they view as
pro-terrorist."
The American democracy advocacy group
Freedom House, which releases its ranking
of press freedom around the world in May
every year, placed the United States at
15 and Iraq at 142 out of 193 countries
studied during 2003.
Senior researcher Karin Deutsch Karlekar
at Freedom House, who also helped in the
survey for Reporters Without Borders, said
this week's index was fairly similar to
the Freedom House ranking, especially at
the top and bottom of the list. The reason
for the difference in the ranking of some
countries, including the United States,
was that Reporters Without Borders considered
attacks and imprisonment of journalists,
while Freedom House looked at the legal
and economic aspects of journalism.
"The press in the United States has
a very strong legal structure," Mrs.
Karlekar said.
She expressed surprise, however, at the
ranking of India, "which has very vibrant
media," at 120, below Afghanistan and
Swaziland. Freedom House placed India at
93.
Reporters Without Borders said China,
with 27 journalists in jail, and Cuba, with
26 behind bars, are the world's "biggest
prisons for journalists."
Countries where the greatest press freedom
is enjoyed are located in Europe: Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands
and Norway are all ranked 1, along with
Slovakia and Switzerland. Of the top 20
countries, only three are outside Europe:
New Zealand (9), Trinidad and Tobago (11)
and Canada (18).
The index shows that rich countries do
not have a monopoly on press freedom. Jamaica
(24), El Salvador (28), Costa Rica (35),
Cape Verde (38) and Namibia (42) rank fairly
high on the index.
oDesikan Thirunarayanapuram contributed
to this article.
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