Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/08/2025
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Categories
Register here.
Reporters without Borders publishes a global Press Freedom Index each year on May 3rd, Press Freedom Day. In 2024, the United States ranked 55th out of countries, and under the current administration, with its attacks on public media and Trump’s lawsuits against mainstream networks, our 2025 standing is 57, down 2 places.
Norway remains in first place this year, though Denmark (second in 2024, sixth this year) and Sweden (third last year, fourth in 2025) have both dropped. Second and third places this year are Estonia and the Netherlands, last year in sixth and fourth place, respectively. Other prominent countries’ ranks (2024, 2025): Canada (14, 21), France (21, 25), United Kingdom (23, 20), Russia (162, 171), China (172, 178), all out of 180 nations and territories.
Nationally recognized journalist Mark Taylor-Canfield, executive director and editor for press freedom and media responsibility at Democracy Watch News, has written for Truthout, Huffington Post and others. He is often seen on the Jeff Santos Show. Mark is also a gifted Seattle musician and producer.
He serves as executive director for the nonprofit news organization Democracy Watch News, where he focuses on issues related to freedom of the press. He served on the Steering Committee for Free Speech Radio News on the Pacifica Radio Network. FSRN was funded partially by the Pacifica Reporters for Free Speech foundation.
Mark has testified before the FCC on the negative effects of corporate media monopolies. In 2011, Mark won a major federal civil rights lawsuit regarding freedom of the press, after being illegally detained by state police and blocked from reporting on protests at the state capitol in Olympia.
Mark’s blogs, news articles, and opinion pieces have been published at Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Truthout, Alternet, Salon, The Seattle Times, The Seattle Star, and more. His journalism portfolio and biography are available at Muckrack: https://muckrack.com/mark-taylor-canfield and he has a blog at https://mtcbog.blogspot.com/.
UUJEC Cochairperson Sally Jane Gellert will join Mark to discuss press freedom from her perspective as a producer and host of Eco-Logic on WBAI—99.5FM & wbai.org, the New York City station of the Pacifica Foundation, which is a target of Project 2025.