The U.S. is ranked 41 out of 180 countries in the  Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, which measures the “level of freedom of information in 180 countries.” It moved from 49 in 2015 to 41 this year, although  the “relative improvement by comparison hides overall negative trends”.

Citing the U.S. government’s “war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism,” and the country’s lack of a “shield law” that would allow journalists to protect confidential sources, the report takes a decidedly negative view of U.S. press freedom.

Some of the policies condemned in the report come from President Obama’s administration, as NPR’s Sam Sanders has reported:

“[Obama’s] Justice Department has cracked down on reporters in an effort to prevent leaks; it also set a new record for withholding access to government files under the Freedom of Information Act (despite calling for a “new era of openness” on his first day in office); and photojournalists in 2013 from several major news organizations chastised the Obama administration for denying their ‘right to photograph or videotape the President while he is performing his official duties,’ instead relying on official photos shot by White House photographers.”

The Reporters Without Borders index also points to the 2016 presidential race and #BlackLivesMatter protests as occasions when press freedom has been trampled:

“Since the primaries began last summer, journalists have seen their access to campaign events restricted by candidates from both political parties and have been insulted and even bullied on social media. [Reporters Without Borders] is also still troubled by the arrest of journalists during #Blacklivesmatter protests in Baltimore and Minneapolis.  The report does praise a new federal policy mandating more communication and transparency regarding U.S. hostage cases.

Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark are ranked in the top four spots, while Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea are in the last four places.  Countries ahead of the U.S. in the rankings include Canada (18), Ghana (26), Chile (31) and the U.K. (38). The U.S. is ranked higher than France (45) and Italy (77).   (Sam Sanders, NPR. 21 April 2016 on the 41st Press Freedom index).

The figure of 41 out of 180 speaks for itself, and there is truth in what Reporters without Borders say.  But the fact is that the American Press is owned by a tiny number of oligarchs.Their distortion of the news to serve the interests of the owners, their fellow multi- millionaires, the politicians or the armed forces is shameful. To get the truth on an issue you have to spend ages every day checking with reliable bloggers, people who make it their job to interview people on the spot, foreign news sites etc.  And what the Press leave out is as important as what they choose to cover. In all and collectively they protesteth too much. And by the way, the majority are politically biased (see treatment of Bernie’s election campaign for a start).