American Press’s World Standing
The United States has fallen ten points in the last year in terms of press freedoms, according to Reporters Without Borders’ annual analysis of the state of the media environment around the world. The situation for the news media here is now being described as “problematic.”
It is not much consolation, but the report shows the situation around the entire world has gotten worse. Of the five indicators used by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the one that has fallen most is the political environment around the world.
In the United States, a large part of the problem may be put at the foot of one person — Donald J. Trump with his “constant denigration of the press.” The report notes that while President Joe Biden says the right words — “journalism is not a crime,” the rhetoric does not address the underlying issues.
The United States came in at #55 in 2024 out of the 180 countries included in the analysis. That is down from #45 a year ago. Except for Canada, that is better than all the other countries included in the region the RSF labels ‘The Americas’ but, again, that is ‘not much consolation.’
If you compare the United States to other Western countries, the picture gets worse. Neighboring Canada comes in at #14, Portugal at #7, Ireland at #8, Germany at #10, New Zealand at #19, France at #21, the United Kingdom at #23, Spain at #30, Australia at #39 and Italy at #46. The link below provides an interactive map with specifics on each country.
The North Atlantic countries of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Finland took the top five spots and in that order. The five worst countries were Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria and at the bottom of the list at #180 was Eritrea, a little country in Africa beside Ethiopia, by the Red Sea across from Saudi Arabia.
That same country was cited by the group PEN America in its annual survey of The Freedom to Write in countries around the world as one of the ten worst places for writers being jailed. Also on the PEN list for the first time — Israel, including the Occupied Palestinian Territory. More on that below.
And, yet again, in the “not much consolation” side of the press freedom ledger, the United States has not seen the governmental and military attacks on the news media that have taken place in other countries. The report indicates that 572 journalists and ‘media workers’ have been detained by governments around the world this year and another 12 have been killed — and, remember, the year is not over.
The worst situation is Palestine where the so-called Israeli Defense Forces has killed many, many reporters. The Committee to Protect Journalists documents 78 journalists killed in “work related” incidents with another eight still under investigation. The RSF puts the number at more than 100 since the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, “including 22 in the line of duty.” That puts Israel at #101 and Palestine at 157th out of the 180 countries and territories surveyed.
(As a side note, Ukraine ranked #61 while Russia ranked #162 and China at #172.)
There is no question that Trump and his attacks on the news media have had an impact of the public’s view of the press and the resultant deterioration of press freedom. That is not the whole story, of course. The report is careful to provide a balanced examination of the five factors it considers in developing its rankings.
Media landscape — The report notes the “highly concentrated” media ownership in which outlets “appear to prioritize profits over public interest journalism”. A situation made worse by the “growing interest in partisan media” which “threatens objectivity.” Resulting in — public confidence in the media falling “dangerously.”
Political context — As noted earlier, the report cites Trump’s “constant denigration of the press” and Biden’s under-performance in helping it. But it shows its world view in that it cites concerns about Biden not pressing Israel and Saudi Arabia and other countries to protect the press.
Legal framework — Further evidence of the group’s ‘world view’ is the note about the US trying to get Julian Assange extradited. More critically, the report notes efforts in several states to limit journalists from public spaces, meetings and “recording the police.” It does strike a ‘hopeful’ note about the move to pass a law shielding media from defamation lawsuits.
Economic Context — One in three newspapers that were operating in 2005 have shut down as advertisers cut back or switched to other outlets, like Craigslist and Google. That simple fact says it all. And the ones that haven’t shuttered are cutting back on staff. More than 3,000 jobs lost last year alone. The best hope is online subscriptions and/ or donations.
Socialcultural Context — This may be the most disheartening fact of them all — “the level of distrust in the American media is unprecedented.” What’s worse is the rise in online harassment and threats. And we all know is responsible for much of that hate.
Safety — Even worse, of those threats have turned into actual attacks with reporters often physically assaulted while covering events. Ironically The First Amendment which protects the freedom of speech of the media, also protects it for these protests along with their right to “peacefully… assemble.”
It is hard not to examine the report in depth, as I have done here, and not feel somewhat depressed about the state of the news environment in America today. And, not just as a journalist, but as an American who believes in The First Amendment.
As a final note in the “not much consolation” column, the situation is indeed much worse in many parts of the world, as noted earlier. Even countries supposedly build on Democratic principles are experiencing hostile political and media environments. Two prime examples — Israel (#101) and India (#159). They’re not the only ones, just the ones making news now.
What do these countries have in common? Autocratic rules who see a free press as a threat. In November, Americans will decide if they want to follow the example of those countries. Will they choose Democracy or Autocracy?
