Reporters without Borders issues an annual Press Freedom Index. The United States ranks only 55 out of 180 countries in the index, so not quite in the top quartile. The top countries are mostly in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, while Eastern European nations, relatively benevolent island dictatorships, and some African countries make up a second tier coming in just ahead of the United States. They cite the dominance of the profit motive in U.S. journalism, the rise of openly partisan media outlets, and harassment, intimidation and assault of journalists both online and in real life.

Interestingly to me, they don’t mention the somewhat obvious manipulation of newsrooms by government and intelligence agencies. Maybe this goes hand in hand with the profit motive issue, when parroting press releases or relying on obvious plants is the most cost-effective way to churn out news. Consent doesn’t even have to be manufactured, it just happens by default.