How free is our press?

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Michael L. Tan

GIVEN the freewheeling articles in many of our newspapers as well as the hard-hitting commentaries on radio and television, it's tempting to think the Philippine press must be one of the freest in the world.

Not quite, according to the first worldwide press freedom index compiled by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF, from the French name Reporters sans frontieres). The index is being released to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3. (You can get the full list on www.rsf.fr.)

I don't want to keep you in suspense, so let me tell you how we fared: We ranked 89th out of 139 countries.

RSF explains that the index was drawn up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer 50 questions about a range of possible violations of press freedom. This included censorship, murders or arrests of journalists, state monopolies, punishment of press law offenses.

The global picture is grim. In 16 Latin American countries, for example, journalists can still be sent to jail if found guilty of "insulting" public officials. In Cuba, 30 journalists are in prison, and when RSF activists recently protested in front of the Cuban Embassy in Paris, they were beaten up by embassy guards.