The 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders places the United States at 47th.
The fall of 27 places since 2010 is due to the “many arrests of journalist covering Occupy Wall Street protests,” the report said, and now ties the U.S. with Argentina and Romania in the organization’s rankings.
Finland and Norway take the top spots, followed by and Estonia and the Netherlands.
China, Iran, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea round out the very bottom of the list.
This is the organization’s tenth annual press freedom index. Reporters Without Borders is the world’s largest press freedom organization and works to improve safety for journalists in war zones and in countries that censor media outlets.
