We're #53! We're #53!

The U.S. continues to lead the world by example...

Washington Post: U.S. Rank on Press Freedom Slides Lower

Some poor countries, such as Mauritania and Haiti, improved their record in a global press freedom index this year, while France, the United States and Japan slipped further down the scale of 168 countries rated, the group Reporters Without Borders said yesterday...

...Although it ranked 17th on the first list, published in 2002, the United States now stands at 53, having fallen nine places since last year.

"Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security' to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on terrorism,' " the group said...

But hey, look on the bright side, we're still better than North Korea or Saudi Arabia!