As we celebrate our independence it would be wise for us to heed the current calls for freedom in our country - freedom from big money's corrupting influence on politics, freedom from government surveillance, freedom from discrimination and prejudice, freedom from fossil fuels, freedom from unjust laws and from economic, environmental and social inequity, and freedom from corporate control of our media, etc.
One of the basic principles of the US Bill of Rights is the guarantee of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Many of the ideas in our Constitution came from the writings of John Locke during one of the revolutions against monarchy in England. He defiantly declared that men were born with the right to freedom and opportunity. Locke proclaimed that the sole purpose of government is to promote the welfare of the people, not to benefit the king and his aristocratic friends. www.billofrightsinstitute.org/...
These revolutionary ideas about human rights had their origin in the English Magna Carta signed by King James in 1215. During another uprising, King Charles was forced to endorse the Petition of Rights, and during the revolution of 1688 Parliament passed the original Bill of Rights.
Although Britain never abolished the monarchy, it's noble families lost much of their power to the Parliament. And though it took nearly three hundred years in the United States, eventually slavery was outlawed and women won the right to vote and to participate in the leadership of the nation.
Throughout this struggle for independence, freedom of the press has served as a bulwark against authoritarianism. In fact, the First Amendment to The Bill of Rights inextricably connects this liberty with the all important right to freedom of speech.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
So, given this brief background information, one fact should be alarming to residents of the United States: According to Reporters Without Borders, the US is currently ranked 41st in the world in terms of press freedom. In other words, there are 40 other countries in the world where reporters have more access to information about the workings of their own government, and more protection under the law as journalists.
If this shocks you, it should! The US is ranked behind Tongo, South Africa and Slovenia. Finland is ranked #1 in terms of press freedom. RWB's World Press Freedom Index here: rsf.org/... Reporters Without Borders rsf.org
RWB is not saying that the US has a media partially controlled by the state as may exist in countries like Russia, Iran or China. It's the ownership of most media by a small group of large corporations that has reduced our access to information and lowered our ranking.
The Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission have allowed this consolidation of ownership to happen despite the protests of press freedom advocates such as FreePress.net. https://freepress.net
According to two suppressed university studies (University of Delaware and Fordham University), corporate consolidation of media ownership does not result in more local media coverage as the FCC had claimed. One research study by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) found a loss of minority and female ownership of news media companies due to consolidation of ownership.
I testified before the FCC about these studies which the commission claimed to have no knowledge of. I found that very ironic since it was the FCC who had commissioned these studies! www.truth-out.org/...
My FCC testimony: www.truth-out.org/...
My report on suppressed FCC studies for Free Speech Radio News: www.youtube.com/...
My report at Thom Hartmann Show with Sam Seder www.youtube.com/...
My report at Norman Goldman Show www.youtube.com/...
The government's prosecution of whistle blowers has also had a negative effect on the US ranking. The greatest censorship and propaganda, however, often comes from commercial news media. A prime example of this was the proclamation of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic party's nominee before the California primary. The truth is that neither Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton have enough delegates to secure the nomination. Clinton and the US corporate media are relying on unpledged superdelegates to put her over the top.
As a US journalist I am not proud of our low ranking on the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index. We must do much better in this country to secure the liberties our founders intended for us. There must be an effort by all journalists, editors, publishers, etc. to push the envelope on issues of freedom of the press in the United States.
As members of the community we can all do much more to help support and fund alternative media projects like Democracy Watch News, Free Speech Radio and Free Speech TV, and yes, Daily Kos.
Without independent voices in the media, we can not truly say that we have a free press in this country. The United States of America was the first nation on the planet to establish freedom of religion and of the press as a basic tenet of it's own constitution. I'd say that we have a special obligation to protect these rights at all times.