Putting Journalists in Check

Posted on Jun 5, 2008

The World Newspaper Congress played host to Gary Kasparov on Tuesday. The chess wiz and Kremlin antagonist ridiculed his government for imposing limits on free expression. Indeed, Reporters Without Borders’ most recent annual index of global press freedom ranks Russia a dismal 144th. Still, there are plenty of places in the world where you can get beaten, arrested or killed for letting people know what’s going on.

It’s hard for the United States to point fingers after holding Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj captive for six years. For that reason and others, the U.S. was ranked only 48th, behind Nicaragua.

With Scott McClellan, of all people, challenging the backbone of the American journalist, now seems as good a time as any to take a look at the state of the world’s press.

Click here to check out Reporters Without Borders’ annual index of press freedom.

AP via Google:

GOTEBORG, Sweden—World chess star turned political activist Garry Kasparov told world news industry leaders Tuesday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had assaulted press freedoms in Russia, and urged them to challenge Kremlin leaders over the issue.

Kasparov, 45, became the world’s youngest chess champion in 1985. The Russian grand master remained at the top of chess rankings until he retired in 2005 to devote himself to politics in his homeland, eventually joining The Other Russia, a coalition opposing Putin’s rule.

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