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Originally posted here by Negative
That really seems to bother you, pwaring
Yes, it does. I don't like a French organisation telling me how much freedom the press in the UK has, especially compared to other countries. :)
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The government fully respects the constitution’s guarantee of press freedom.
We don't have a constitution, but even so the freedom of the press is guaranteed in various pieces of legislation.
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A wide range of publications includes independent and party-affiliated newspapers.
That is the same over here as well, we have everything from the official party newspapers to the biased papers (e.g. the Daily Mail which is strongly Conservative). There is, however, no such thing as a truely independent newspaper in any country (even if the paper itself is unbiased, you can bet some of the journalists will have an axe to grind).
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An autonomous board oversees the state broadcasting service which operates a number of transmitting and relay stations. There is both public and private television.
We have public television (BBC) and private television (all the other channels), all of whom are overseen by the Independent Television Commission as well as other bodies such as the Advertising Standards Agency. There's also the Press Complaints Commission, which deals with (you guessed it) complaints against the press.
Overall, I don't see how the UK can come 21st in a list of countries for freedom of the press. Other than laws covering basic common sense (which I imagine exist in the other countries on that list) there are no restrictions on the press in this country. The press are free to make as much fun of the government as they like, and I know of at least three regular programmes on television which are specifically aimed at satirising our politicians and celebrities.
Finally, on the issue of economic freedoms, the Competition Commission exists to ensure that people like Murdoch do not own all of the media. He can never buy the BBC as it exists now anyway and the Competition Commission would not (and has stopped him in the past) from acquiring too many other broadcasters.
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Originally posted here by !mitationRust
I went to a private school and was taught extensively on world history.
Oh, I see, you went to a private school therefore by default you know more about world history than anyone else.
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Basicaly we respect our women over here more than other countries. It's not cave man days we don't drag women by their hair anymore, america has matured more than other countries obviously.
Neither does the UK, France, Spain or any of the major EU countries. America doesn't have some sort of moral superiority over the rest of the world you know.
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The foreign and defense policies of Ronald Reagan resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the freeing of approximately 122 million people in Eastern Europe.
Of course Reagan did that all single-handedly didn't he?
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The state of Israel would cease to exist if not for American protection, and about 5.5 million Jews would be in grave danger.
The state of Israel wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for western interference in the middle east!
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The USA and Britain removed the Iraqi dictator Hussein, who was responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East. And we have also removed the terrorist Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Please, don't forget the other countries who sent in troops, such as Poland and Spain. America isn't some kind of great martyr sacrificing herself for the better of other countries whilst others stand by and let these things happen.
The rest of your post was basically a load of twaddle about America being ever so nice to other countries. I'll have you know that the US isn't the only country in the world to give overseas aid, nor has it "freed" more people than all the other countries combined.
