Danmark har verdens frieste presse

Det påstår journalister uden grænser. Nu er der bare det forhold, at vi deler førstepladsen med følgende lande:

Finland, Norge, Sverige og Irland.

Sverige som knap tillader et demokratisk parti pressetid. Irland som har forbud mod at kritisere religion, ligeledes har jeg svært ved at forestille mig en reel frihed på abort området.

USA ender til gengæld på en 20 plads. Det er svært for mig, at forestille mig et land hvor debatten er friere.

Så er USA endda hoppet hele tyve pladser op, som i følge journalister uden grænser skyldes Obama effekten. Hvad den så lige har med pressefrihed at gøre?
Det er indgreb over for journalister i Irak og Afghanistan, der trækker ned:

Several journalists were injured or arrested by the US military. One, Ibrahim Jassam, is still being held in Iraq.

Om kriterierne:

Reporters Without Borders prepared a questionnaire with 40 criteria that assess the state of press freedom in each country. It includes every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news media (censorship, confiscation of newspaper issues, searches and harassment). Ánd it includes the degree of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these press freedom violations.
It also measures the level of self-censorship in each country and the ability of the media to investigate and criticise. Financial pressure, which is increasingly common, is also assessed and incorporated into the final score.
The questionnaire takes account of the legal framework for the media (including penalties for press offences, the existence of a state monopoly for certain kinds of media and how the media are regulated) and the level of independence of the public media. It also reflects violations of the free flow of information on the Internet.

Ligeledes tæller ikke kun statens indgreb mod friheden, men også pressionsgrupper, organisationers.

Hele listen kan ses her: