DEMOCRACY

Finland Tops Press Freedom List

U.S. ranks 47th.

So much for the land of the free: the U.S. fell more than two dozen slots in the annual Reporters Without Borders press-freedom index, down from 20th in 2010 to 47th in 2012. Finland and Norway topped the list for the second year in a row as other European nations and the U.S. took hits for their brutal treatment of reporters covering global protests. The U.S.’s long fall was primarily related to the 25 journalists being arrested and, in some cases, beaten by police while covering Occupy Wall Street. The report also mentioned the Obama administration’s intense efforts to keep large amounts of government information secret. But the U.S. wasn't the only target: RWB chided the U.K. for its protection of law-breakers in the News of the World scandal and for its “surreal law” allowing the world to sue British media outlets in British courts.