Do We Have A Free Press?

Discussion of US media is germane to many of the concerns expressed at the blog on this site. Media in this country are primarily controlled by large for-profit corporations who derive revenue from advertising, with music programming and entertainment being a huge component along with "news." This is in large part thanks to deregulation and to consolidation of ownership over time. We rank somewhere in the middle for press freedom, and like other nations, our press freedom is heavily affected by economics as interrelated with matters of war and peace.

What We Are Offered

Our FCC-regulated television has three traditional (NBC, ABC, CBS) and four new networks (Fox, CW, MyNetwork, ION), and one noncommercial network (PBS). We have small local stations (most belong to big networks) and public access on local and Hispanic local channels, with subscription cable or satellite services like HBO and CNN. Radio has also consolidated, and most stations are profit-oriented, with the exception of noncommercial ones such as NPR. Young people tend to use comedic news parodies (such as Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert) as actual news providers. Talk radio "exploded" after the FCC Fairness Doctrine was repealed in 1987 so that "balanced" news programming was no longer standard. Subscription satellite radio is heavily consolidated and are not regulated by the FCC. Cinema is one of our big exports, as manufacturing and agriculture decline, and documentaries have grown in popularity.

Newspapers continue to decline and as the cost of producing them has increased, most now rely on wire services such as AP or Reuters, for their national and world coverage. This explains the "watered down" or sketchy coverage we sometimes get. US newspapers are privately owned by big chains like Gannett or McClatchy, for the most part. Smaller communities tend to have "weeklies" and larger cities often have "alternative weeklies" such as the Village Voice in NYC or The Stranger in Seattle. Many large cities are no longer "two newspaper towns" as their advertising revenue has been squeezed by Web sites like eBay, Craigslist and Monster.com. Magazines serve the specialty markets but most are owned by the same media conglomerates that own the other media. We have three main news magazines: TIME, Newsweek and US News and World Report which are said to strive for objectivity, but in practice have political biases that are fairly easy to see.

Do We Have A Free Press?

Reporters Without Borders compiles a Free Press ranking each year and last year, the US ranked 48th. We are not the best or worst, but somewhere in the middle.

The top fourteen were European, and though G8 countries had showed improvement, only two G8 members made the top 20 - Canada (18th) and Germany (20th). The Netherlands fell from number one to 12th via locking up two journalists who would not reveal their sources. France (31st) had its record marred by concerns about labor/demonstration coverage, and journalist confidentiality. Italy (35) had too much mafia influence over the press. Japan (37th) improved slightly, as quarrels between the press and militant nationalists died down. In the US (48th), a blogger (Josh Wold) spent 224 days in prison and a cameraman from Sudan was detained at Guantanamo (since 2002), which brought down our score. Bulgaria (51) and Poland (56) were Europe's low players, as journalists were attacked or given harsh sentences.

The US scored not much better than certain young democracies, such as Mauritania (50th), and we were beat by Uruguay (37th) and Nicaragua (47th), though El Salvador dropped (64). Benin (53) and Mali (52) fell in ranking after imprisoning journalists for insulting the president. Russia (144) did not progress, as journalists were murdered and not punished, and diversity was lacking.

The Internet and Press Freedom

Several countries fell in the ranking this year because of violations of the free flow of online news and information. In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt (146th), bloggers were arrested and news websites were closed or blocked. At least 64 persons are currently imprisoned worldwide because of what they posted on the Internet, 50 of whom are in China, eight in Vietnam and one in Egypt. (Where are the other five?)

War and News

War and conflict meant low rankins for Somalia (159th) and Sri Lanka (156th), as it has become hard for journalists to work. The battle between Hamas and Fatah led to press freedom violations in the Palestinian Territories (158th). In Iraq (157th), armed groups targeted journalists. (More than 200 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the US-led invasion in March 2003). Meanwhile, Nepal (137th) jumped up 20 places, as the end of war and return to democracy improved the status of the media there.

Alternatives

The internet has added a capacity to look up old news, via subscription or for free. Add bloggers, and we are writing our history as it happens. We need to seek out truth, wherever that lies, and it will take work. It takes diligence to find the facts and patterns amongst the hype and sensationalism. It takes discipline to do something useful with the information, rather than making gossip go viral or supporting conspiracy. Most of all, it takes detachment to "fight the frame" and to look at the forest or the individual trees, by consciously shifting perspective.

Here are some of the organizations who perform a "watchdog" function on the media:

Adbusters - Foundation with goal of changing the way society and the mass media interact.
Alternative Media Watch - Media group showcasing underreported news stories and issues.
American Journalism Review - National magazine covering all aspects of print, television, radio and online media.
Center for Media and Democracy - A wiki-based investigative journalism collaborative focused on the public relations industry and whistle-blowing manipulative or misleading practices. Contribute to a quarterly investigative journal, the Weekly Spin listserv, donate or draw on newsfeeds.
Center for Media and Public Affairs - Nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C., conducting scientific studies of the news and entertainment media.
Columbia Journalism Review - Publication serving as a watchdog of the press in all its forms.
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) - National media watchdog group advocating independence and criticism in journalism.
Global Media Monitoring Project - A twice-a-decade study of the media’s news coverage to be undertaken worldwide with the aim of documenting the participation and portrayal of men and women in the world’s news media.
Independent Press Councils (IPC) - Containing details of press councils who have successfully adapted the idea of self-regulation to their own cultural and political context, to facilitate the exchange of views and information, and to promote and support self-regulation.
Media Matters for America - A non-profit progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Founded by David Brock, a conservative media insider.
Media Monitors Network - Grass roots watchdog of media coverage which seeks to uncover journalistic and media bias and provide contrary information and opinions.
Media Research Center- Conservative group founded to bring political balance to the news media and responsibility to the entertainment media.
Media Transparency - Watchdog organization tracing funding sources of many media and political organizations.
Media Watch - Organization focusing on media literacy and the challenging of stereotypes commonly found in the media.
Media Watch (ABC TV) - A leading forum for Australian media analysis. Summary, news, bungled stories and viewable episodes of the weekly program, plus archive of previous coverage.
MediaChannel.org - Nonprofit site dedicated to the political, social, and cultural impacts of the media.
National Institute on Media and the Family - Providing research and education on the media's effect on families and children.
NewsTrust - Online social network that aims to help people identify quality journalism. Sign-in to rate news and opinions.
On the Media - Site representing weekly, one-hour National Public Radio program devoted to media criticism and analysis.
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press - Independent opinion research group studying attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues.
PR Watch - Investigative reporting on the practices of public-relations and public affairs industry, from the Center for Media and Democracy.
Project Censored - Locating stories about significant issues of which the public should be aware, but is not, for one reason or another.
Stats - Weblog and articles highlight abuses of science and statistics regarding policy issues.