[D66] Report documents attacks on press freedom in US and Europe

[J.N.]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/02/17/repo-f16.html

Report documents attacks on press freedom in US and Europe
By Nick Barrickman
17 February 2015

Reporters Without Borders released its 2015 World Press Freedom Index
last week, documenting a global rise in censorship, repression and
attacks on freedom of the press. The report, which ranks over 180
countries based upon their adherence to international press freedom
standards, declares “media freedom is in retreat on all five continents.”

The report ranked the United States at number 49 on press freedom,
behind nations such as Burkina Faso, Niger and El Salvador. The US fell
three spots from last year, and is down 27 spots from its ranking of 20
in 2015.

The report quotes New York Times investigative reporter James Risen, who
has resisted US attempts to get him to reveal journalistic sources, as
saying that the US government is “an Orwellian state claiming to be the
most transparent.”

While hypocritically raising the flag of “human rights” in pursuit of
its foreign policy aims, the United States has moved toward openly
dictatorial forms of rule at home. The report references the Obama
administration’s continuing “war on information,” stemming from its
persecution of a record number of reporters and government
whistleblowers, including Pvt. Bradley (Chelsea) Manning, former NSA
contractor Edward Snowden, and the whistleblowing group WikiLeaks.

In the section titled the “European Model’s Erosion,” the report notes,
“The EU appears to be swamped by a certain desire on the part of some
member states to compromise on freedom of information.

The report also documents the growth of the extreme right throughout
Europe. In France, the neo-fascistic National Front of Marine Le Pen,
which has been increasingly embraced by the political establishment, has
adopted a media strategy intended to “attack journalists,” and is known
for physically targeting journalists at its demonstrations.