We like to think that the United States of America has no equal in terms of freedom - but, according to a new report, that's not the case when it comes to freedom of the press.

The group Reporters Without Borders today released its annual World Press Freedom Index, ranking the state of journalists' liberty in 173 nations - and the United States ranked 36th, tied with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, South Africa, Spain and Taiwan.

On the bright side, that's up from 48th place the year before, thanks in part to the release of Sami al-Haj, an al-Jazeera cameraman who had been in Guantanamo since June 2002. But there are a few deficiencies in U.S. press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders:

• The lack of a federal "shield law," to keep reporters from being compelled to give up confidential sources in court. (The House has passed such a bill, but it's hung up in the Senate over whether bloggers and students should count as journalists.)
• The lack of a resolution in the case of murdered Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey.
• Arrests of reporters covering street protests at the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway tied for No. 1 on the list. The repressive regimes of Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan were at the bottom.

Labels: journalism