Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democratic societies. The phrase "freedom of the press" means that television, radio and other media can report the news without interference from the government. In addition it includes freedom of speech, or the rights of individuals to express their opinions without fear that the government will harass or arrest them for what they have said. Freedom of the press is an important part of the Universal Declaration of Human rights put forth by the United Nations (Wikipedia, 2005). It includes the entire process of producing news from gathering to writing, publishing, and distribution (Fink, 2002). Freedom House, an organization dedicated to the monitoring of freedom of the press around the world, tracks which countries have the most effective rights supporting freedom of the press as well as those countries where rights have been eroded, and those countries where freedom of the press does not exist. Their standards are high and recently listed the United States as a country where rights to freedom of the press have eroded after journalist was jailed recently for not revealing sources (Goldfarb, 2005). They also noted recent setbacks in Pakistan, Kenya, Mexico and Venezuela (Goldfarb, 2005). Of particular concern in the United States was the case of Judith Miller. On July 6 of this year, She was put in jail after she refused to tell a grand jury the source of her information regarding who had revealed the name of a Central Intelligence Officer (Staff writers, 1999).

Overall, Freedom House looked at freedom of the press in 194 countries. They concluded that only 39% of the countries in the world, most in Western Europe, had full freedom of the press. They judged 26% of countries...

Other sources confirmed Freedom House's perception that freedom of the press can fluctuate over time, noting that Thailand and Japan recently passed laws aimed at making government records more available to those countries' citizens (Padman, 2000). The New Strait Times (2000) compared that progress to the countries of Myanmar, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and China, where journalist have been jailed, tortured or murdered and labeled "political dissidents." In addition, many country governments exert control over the press by controlling who can own radio and television stations.
Freedom House (2005) listed five countries as lacking freedom of the press: Myanmar, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, and Turkmenistan. They reported that residents of those countries have limited access to outside sources for news and that the press is restricted to reporting what the government allows it to report (Goldfarb, 2005). Other sources highlighted struggles with freedom of the press in newly democratized countries. They cited an example in Russia, when armed officials seized the offices of Russia's largest media company, Media Most (Gessin, 2000).

Australia did not receive any special attention in most sources, but has a long history of champion freedom of the press dating back to 1824 when William Charles Wentworth and Robert Wardell brought a printing press to Australia. In their first editorial they stated, "A free press is the most legitimate, and, at the same time, the most powerful weapon that can be employed to annihilate influence, frustrate the designs of tyranny, and restrain the arm of oppression…