VOA慢速英语20061204a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Press Freedom Still Out of Reach in Many CountriesBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, December 04, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

On December tenth, nineteen forty-eight, the United Nations approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article nineteen says everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression and to hold opinions without interference. Also included is the freedom to receive and share information and ideas through any media, including across national borders.

So where does press freedom stand almost sixty years later?


Members of Reporters Without Borders demonstrating in Paris, July, 2006

Reporters Without Borders rated one hundred sixty-eight nations in its two thousand six Press Freedom Index. The Paris-based media rights group said North Korea, Turkmenistan and Eritrea were the worst violators. Next came Cuba, Burma, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Nepal.

The ten countries rated most repressive were the same as last year except for two. Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia moved into the bottom ten, while Libya and Vietnam moved up.

Four countries shared the top rating: Finland, Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Last year, seven northern European nations were all number one, including Denmark.

This year Denmark is in nineteenth place with Bosnia-Herzegovina, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago.

The drop is related to the publication of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons in Denmark last year. Reporters Without Borders noted² that journalists had to have police protection because of threats.

And the group expressed concern about weakening of press freedom in France, the United States and Japan.

France is down five places to thirty-fifth, along with Australia, Bulgaria and Mali. The United States fell nine places, to fifty-third, along with Botswana, Croatia and Tonga. And Japan fell fourteen places to fifty-one on the list.

This was the fifth year of the Press Freedom Index. Two countries moved into the top twenty for the first time: Bosnia and Bolivia. Bolivia, in sixteenth place, was rated highest among less-developed countries.

Ghana took a big jump to thirty-fourth. But three African countries were rated higher: Benin, Namibia and Mauritius.

One of the biggest improvements on the index was Mauritania, up sixty-one places in the past two years. Reporters Without Borders say a government overthrow³ in August of last year ended heavy restrictions⁴ on local media.

The index is based on information from free-speech groups, reporters, researchers, judges and human rights activists⁵.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I'm Steve Ember.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》