2018 Press Freedom Index: Only 17/180 countries have a "good situation"

[Tender Branson]

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https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2018

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

That seems to be because it's definition of "good situation" is extremely stringent.

[DavidB.]

Criticism of mainstream journalism is apparently considered to affect press freedom negatively, judging by the country profiles. France: "Media bashing is a growing problem: criticism of the news media by politicians and media personalities was particularly virulent during the 2017 presidential election campaign." Netherlands: "Some political parties question the legitimacy of traditional media." Apparently, RSF think only journalists have the right to be critical. And people are supposed to blindly trust the media as well: "Ever since the refugee crisis in 2015, there has been widespread mistrust of the media" (Austria). Wow! Scandalous that people would not trust everything journalists publish.

[dead0man]

Criticism of mainstream journalism is apparently considered to affect press freedom negatively, judging by the country profiles. France: "Media bashing is a growing problem: criticism of the news media by politicians and media personalities was particularly virulent during the 2017 presidential election campaign." Netherlands: "Some political parties question the legitimacy of traditional media." Apparently, RSF think only journalists have the right to be critical. And people are supposed to blindly trust the media as well: "Ever since the refugee crisis in 2015, there has been widespread mistrust of the media" (Austria). Wow! Scandalous that people would not trust everything journalists publish.

that's funny.  We wouldn't question the forth estate so often if it didn't regularly drop the ball.  Like most things, a good chunk of the problem is "the people" and their desire for sensationalism, blood and tragedy.

[kyc0705]

Criticism of mainstream journalism is apparently considered to affect press freedom negatively, judging by the country profiles. France: "Media bashing is a growing problem: criticism of the news media by politicians and media personalities was particularly virulent during the 2017 presidential election campaign." Netherlands: "Some political parties question the legitimacy of traditional media." Apparently, RSF think only journalists have the right to be critical. And people are supposed to blindly trust the media as well: "Ever since the refugee crisis in 2015, there has been widespread mistrust of the media" (Austria). Wow! Scandalous that people would not trust everything journalists publish.

Yeah, it's not necessarily wrong to argue that most news is a complete waste of time and effort.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I would downgrade Mexico tbh - the gangs there are deadly for journos.

I also had no idea the situation in Sardinia was significantly worse than the rest of Italy.

[Mr. Morden]

I'm disappointed that the writeup on the USA doesn't mention the state of free speech on the Atlas forum.

[TJ in Oregon]

Criticism of mainstream journalism is apparently considered to affect press freedom negatively, judging by the country profiles. France: "Media bashing is a growing problem: criticism of the news media by politicians and media personalities was particularly virulent during the 2017 presidential election campaign." Netherlands: "Some political parties question the legitimacy of traditional media." Apparently, RSF think only journalists have the right to be critical. And people are supposed to blindly trust the media as well: "Ever since the refugee crisis in 2015, there has been widespread mistrust of the media" (Austria). Wow! Scandalous that people would not trust everything journalists publish.

What's even more absurd, is that some of the countries they consider "good" have laws against expressing particular positions, such as Germany. Whether or not those policies are a good idea aside, they shouldn't be given the top score on a "Freedom of the Press" index over places like the US where the press can publish whatever it wants.

[DavidB.]

What's even more absurd, is that some of the countries they consider "good" have laws against expressing particular positions, such as Germany. Whether or not those policies are a good idea aside, they shouldn't be given the top score on a "Freedom of the Press" index over places like the US where the press can publish whatever it wants.

Agreed, very arbitrary.

[Kingpoleon]

I would downgrade Mexico tbh - the gangs there are deadly for journos.

I also had no idea the situation in Sardinia was significantly worse than the rest of Italy.

Did you know that Sicily has fallen into the ocean?

[Tender Branson]

I would downgrade Mexico tbh - the gangs there are deadly for journos.

I also had no idea the situation in Sardinia was significantly worse than the rest of Italy.

Did you know that Sicily has fallen into the ocean?

Not to mention that Northern Ireland now apparently has broken away from the rest of Ireland and now has a water border ...

[Frodo]

So we rank 45th -we have less press freedom than either Romania, Ghana, or Burkina Faso.....

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The most interesting results for me are Bulgaria being at Turkey/Russia tier and Jamaica being in the top league.

[Kingpoleon]

So we rank 45th -we have less press freedom than either Romania, Ghana, or Burkina Faso.....

Yeah, this is way off.

[parochial boy]

So Switzerland just had a referendum trying to abolish the public broadcaster; and the entirety of the press is basically owned by two corporations or Christoph Blocher; and somehow we have the 5th most free press in the world?

Damn guys, how bad is everyone else?

[Karpatsky]

You can criticize this but look at the methodology before you do - this was not just pulled out of someone's rear end; there are serious indices being used.

[TJ in Oregon]

You can criticize this but look at the methodology before you do - this was not just pulled out of someone's rear end; there are serious indices being used.

They used a questionnaire with a penalty for people criticizing the media. What criticisms here should be adjusted in light of this revelation?

[Karpatsky]

You can criticize this but look at the methodology before you do - this was not just pulled out of someone's rear end; there are serious indices being used.

They used a questionnaire with a penalty for people criticizing the media. What criticisms here should be adjusted in light of this revelation?

Yeah, but the questionnaire is one of three parts and the criticism is one of eighty-odd questions. The significance of it on developing the rankings is being seriously exaggerated in this thread.