Hi All
From the story below, it would appear that the land of the free is rapidly becoming the land of the repressed, misinformed and victims of corporate propaganda. Is this the reason that North America is so far behind Europe in the knowledge about the adverse health effects of electro magnetic radiation? Why are United States citizens not being provided with the known facts about the dangers of microwave radiation from cell phones, cordless phones, WiFi and other wireless devices? Hopefully, the home of the brave, will find a brave way forward to bring democracy to the press and truth to its population.
The second story is about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation having to drastically cut 800 staff positions, at a time that the government is trying to stem job losses throughout the country. The CBC is known to report facts accurately and to conduct solid investigative reports, even when Government officials are involved. The CBC is good for Canada and should not be weakened.
Martin Weatherall
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U.S. Ranked 36th Freest Press in the World
It is not economic prosperity but peace that guarantees press freedom. That is the main lesson to be drawn from the world press freedom index that Reporters Without Borders compiles every year and from the 2008 edition.
Said Reporters Without Borders:
"The post-9/11 world is now clearly drawn. Destabilized and on the defensive, the leading democracies are gradually eroding the space for freedoms. The economically most powerful dictatorships arrogantly proclaim their authoritarianism, exploiting the international community's divisions and the ravages of the wars carried out in the name of the fight against terrorism. Religious and political taboos are taking greater hold by the year in countries that used to be advancing down the road of freedom."
Aside from New Zealand and Canada, the first 20 positions on the Index are held by European countries, with Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway tied for first. While the economic disparities among the top 20 are immense, what they have in common is a parliamentary democratic system, and not being involved in any war. This is not the case with the United States, which ranks 36th domestically and 119th outside its own territory.
The worst violators of free expression were Turkmenistan (171st), North Korea (172nd) and Eritrea (173rd).
Sources:
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
The United States was founded in large part on the first amendment, which includes the freedom of speech. So for the U.S. to be ranked only 36th for free press sure seems like a colossal step backwards. And believe it or not, this is a vast improvement from where the U.S. has ranked in the past. In 2006, the U.S. was only 53rd on the Index, and it rose 12 more places in the last year alone.
At the top of the list were Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway. These were the countries with no recorded censorship, threats, intimidation or physical reprisals.
Why is free press in the United States not on par with these European countries?
Reporters Without Borders compiles the Index by asking the 14 freedom of expression organizations that are its partners worldwide, its network of 130 correspondents, as well as journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists, to answer 50 questions about press freedom in their countries. In response, here is what they had to say about press in the United States:
• The release of Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Haj after six years in the Guantanamo Bay military base contributed to the United States' improved ranking.
• The absence of a federal "shield law" means the confidentiality of media sources is still threatened by federal courts, but the number of journalists being subpoenaed or forced to reveal their sources has declined in recent months and none has been sent to prison.
• The August 2007 murder of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey in Oakland, California is still unpunished a year later. The way the investigation into his murder has become enmeshed in local conflicts of interest and the lack of federal judicial intervention also help to explain why the United States did not get a higher ranking.
• Account was also taken of the many arrests of journalists during the Democratic and Republican conventions.
It's worth pointing out that the Index measures press freedom violations, such as harassment, censorship, the legal framework of the media, the independence of the public media, Internet restrictions and financial pressure.
So to really get the whole picture on the media in the United States, it helps to have some other background information as well.
Who Controls the U.S. Media?
For the most part, the media spreads a lot of misinformation and corporate propaganda. This is not at all surprising considering that Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, Viacom (formerly CBS) and General Electric's NBC are the top owners of the entire media industry, which includes everything you read and hear in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies.
In the last 15 years alone, your sources for news have shrunk drastically. Whereas in 1983, 50 corporations ruled the U.S. news media, by 2004 this number decreased to a minuscule six corporations!
As you might imagine, with just six corporations deciding what's worthy of news and what's not, you end up with sensationalized tragedies, celebrity features, and anything else that will capture people's attention.
There is virtually no competition in the media market today whatsoever, and this spells disaster for all types of news, including health information.
Unbiased, REAL Information IS Out There
Even though the United States enjoys access to much more free press than many other countries, the system is clearly not without flaws and you simply cannot rely on a news station, newspaper or any other media outlet to provide you with unbiased, reliable information.
However, the Internet and technology have seriously leveled the playing field when it comes to having access to reliable, unbiased information, and is one of the primary reasons why I remain highly confident that we are making more than a dent in the media process.
The Internet has really become one of the last bastions of independent, free-thinking news available -- and I am proud to be one of the top-ranked independent voices in the vastness of corporate monopoly, offering objective information to empower you with alternative choices that can radically improve your health, open your eyes to the truth, and keep you and your family safely out of the mainstream media madness.
As you weed through the information you read or hear on a daily basis, always remember this important piece of wisdom:
All truth goes through three phases.
1. First, it is ridiculed.
2. Second, it is violently opposed.
3. Third, it is accepted as being self evident.
So if you want to get to the truth, you often have to keep an open mind, do more than a little bit of digging, and even then take everything you read and hear with a grain of salt.
Related Links:
Researchers Find U.S. Media Keeps People Uneducated About Health Issues
Why You Are Being Deceived by the News Media
How The Media Deceives You About Health Issues
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Save the CBC - pressure is building!
Update - In the last 72 hours almost 50,000 Canadians have signed the petition to Save the CBC! Let's up the pressure to 100,000 -- If you haven't signed or forwarded the email yet, here it is below:
Dear friends,
The government is forcing the CBC to drastically cut 800 staff and programming. We urgently need a massive public outcry to Save the CBC:
Canada's media networks have all been slammed by the recession. But the government is reportedly considering bailouts for its friends at private companies CTV and CanWest, while forcing the CBC and Radio Canada to drastically cut 800 staff and programming.
Our CBC is a national treasure, and a pillar of public-interest journalism in a country whose media is owned by a few large firms. We won't hear an outcry from their media outlets, and the CBC is too principled to use its megaphone to make the case for itself. We are the only voice the CBC has.
We urgently need a massive public outcry to Save the CBC, click below to sign the petition. The government is weak and falling in the polls and enough outrage can make the difference.
Parliamentarians have promised to deliver the petition directly in the House of Commons, and we'll even fly a plane and banner over Parliament Hill with the message! Sign now, and forward this email to everyone who might care about this:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_cbc
The number of signatures on the petition will be crucial to the effectiveness of the campaign, so let's get everyone who cares about the CBC and Radio Canada to sign.
The CBC is facing a budget shortfall that amounts to just $6 per Canadian, but its request to the government for a bridging loan to cover this was denied. The deep cuts the CBC is making will damage the organization across the board, and they will not be the last. If we don't stand up for the CBC now, it stands to die a death by a thousand cuts.
Harper's minority government is politically vulnerable and falling in the polls – public outrage could turn the government around on this, but it has to happen now. Let's move quickly.
With hope,
Ricken, Lisa-Marie, Laryn and the whole Avaaz Canada team.
PS - here are some links for more info on this:
An excellent web resource for information and action on the CBC, including the government's consideration of bailouts of CanWest and other companies: http://www.friends.ca/
The Star reports on how opposition parties accuse Harper of using the recession as an excuse to gut the CBC:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/608591
Union says Harper government strangling CBC:
http://www.cjad.com/news/565/899819
Ian Morrison: Stephen Harper's hidden agenda for the CBC:
http://www.straight.com/article-206164/ian-morrison-stephen-harper%3F%3Fs-hidden-agenda-cbc
A crisis of identity - A reader letter to the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090327.COLETTS27-1/TPStory/Comment
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News From Quebec
Hi Martin,
I could not open your file of the Paris Senate declaration. Try this link:
This appeal is very credible. Dr Belpomme is a cancer specialist. The public and the scientist will believe him. I have transfered to all my contacts including the deputy.
Test has been done in Montréal according to the precautionary principal. 1500 readings of EMR in 10 housings revealed that none are save. The results are published in the consumer magasine Protégez-vous of February 2009.
François Therrien who had demonstrate against the antennas in a church mast at Terrebonne, has launched a website http://www.dangersemo.com/. SEMO means "save our children from micro waves". He called a press release on Feb 26th at the school where he teach. At last minute the administration of the school has cancel.
Daniel
