Why is Spain ranked 33, behind other European Countries, in the Reporters Without Borders Annual Report?

Question

Hello fellow Yahoo'ers. Skimming through the internet, I came upon the Reporters Without Borders website, and I saw Spain at number 33, behind other European countries. Since I live there, and just out of plain curiosity, I'd like to know why we've been ranked so low, since I didn't find the info on their website. Thanks!

Answer 1

Spain tv RTVE is controled by the government and every day it show atacks against basque political parties, against Catalonian politics, against ETA and against any selfdetermination opinion from basques, galicians and catalonians. Also in desayunos, they never invite basque nationalists or basques politicians.

Answer 2

Actually you are 41st:

1 Finland 0,50

- Iceland 0,50

- Ireland 0,50

- Netherlands 0,50

5 Czech Republic 0,75

6 Estonia 2,00

- Norway 2,00

8 Slovakia 2,50

- Switzerland 2,50

10 Hungary 3,00

- Latvia 3,00

- Portugal 3,00

- Slovenia 3,00

14 Belgium 4,00

- Sweden 4,00

16 Austria 4,50

- Bolivia 4,50

- Canada 4,50

19 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,00

- Denmark 5,00

- New-Zealand 5,00

- Trinidad and Tobago 5,00

23 Benin 5,50

- Germany 5,50

- Jamaica 5,50

26 Namibia 6,00

27 Lithuania 6,50

- United Kingdom 6,50

29 Costa Rica 6,67

30 Cyprus 7,50

31 South Korea 7,75

32 Greece 8,00

- Mauritius 8,00

34 Ghana 8,50

35 Australia 9,00

- Bulgaria 9,00

- France 9,00

- Mali 9,00

39 Panama 9,50

40 Italy 9,90

41 El Salvador 10,00

- Spain 10,00

The reasons? WELL here's the rub... you won't find them in the Spanish Press. Its about freedom of expression. The Catalan regional assembly’s passing of a broadcasting law that includes threats to press freedom is a call for vigilance and a warning that membership of the European Union does not guarantee protection against the temptation to obstruct journalists. The threats to the media by the ETA still oblige several of them to work under protection.

The Catalan assembly passed a law on 29 December 2005 giving the regional broadcasting authority (CAC) undue quasi-legal powers (similar to those in Navarre and Andalucia) to regulate media content. It provides for heavy fines (between €90,000 and €300,000) and cancellation of operating licences (and thus closure of the media-outlet). Media must also comply with “the principle of truthful and verified news” and must not “obstruct government surveillance activity.” These provisions contravene the much more liberal European Union press freedom laws.

Two major press freedom cases advanced in 2006. The seven-year prison sentence imposed in 2005 on Tayssir Allouni, of the pan-Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera, was confirmed by an appeal court on 1 June. He had been convicted on 26 September 2005 of “collaboration” with Al-Qaeda as part of a trial of 24 people accused of involvement in terrorist activities in Spain. The prosecution mentioned an interview he had had with Osama bin Laden in October 2001 when he was Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Kabul. He also pointed to the many contacts he had with Islamic fundamentalists. Allouni was transferred to house arrest for humanitarian reasons on 3 October 2006 and was able to return to his family in Granada. Al-Jazeera announced on 14 July it was opening a bureau in Spain.

The supreme court on 5 December ordered the reopening of the enquiry into the death of Spanish cameraman José Couso in Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel after US army shelling on 8 April 2003. The enquiry had been formally closed on 10 March but the supreme court said Spanish courts were competent to handle the case, which could affect relations between the US and Spain. This means Spain could seek extradition of three US soldiers responsible for the shelling.

The state prosecutor said on 14 December that legal action against the Basque-language newspaper Egunkaria by a judge was unjustified because he had not proved the paper was an arm of the pro-independence ETA. The paper faces another legal actions.

Journalists who mention Basque terrorism and the ETA - put in the list of predators of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders - find it difficult to do their job. Despite the permanent ceasefire declared by the ETA on 22 March, several dozen journalists still have to work with protection because of ETA threats.

Don't worry - France and Denmark are also falling down the leabgue fast and will be passing you shortly on the way down....

Answer 3

Spain is considered not good in economy.