Every year Reporters Without Borders analyzes the degree of freedom that “journalists, news media, and netizens” have in 180 countries around the world, based on factors such as media independence, self-censorship, transparency, and violence against journalists.

Instructions

Go to “2023 World Press Freedom Index” https://rsf.org/en/index. Links to an external site.

Click on a specific country for its rating. To learn more about that country, click on “See country fact-file”. 

Links to an external site.Analyze 3 countries:

1 country in the top 10,

1 country in the bottom 10, and

the United States.

For each of the 3 countries, discuss:

What country did you pick and what are the ratings? You can compare its 2022 rating to past years as well.

• How did it get it’s rating? (Read the summary on the Reporters Without Borders website – click on “See country fact-file” for more information). Discuss for each country you selected (3 total). Response must be 2-4 pages double spaced

Notes from professor: 

” I just wanted to clarify few things about the assignment.

(1) The first question is an open-ended question, even though it seems like a multiple-choice question: Be sure to choose one or multiple as your answer, and be sure to back it up with reasonings we discussed during class or with any other external references/sources you found compelling and useful. When using other references, just make sure to cite them. 

(2) On how to cite the references, just putting a web link would be more than enough. No need to follow formal citation styles.

(3) Also, you should feel free to use any writing styles to your liking (e.g., short paragraphs, some bullet points, graphics, tables, etc.) as long as they help you get your points across.

(4) The article attached for the first question is just for your information. No need for you to feel obliged to exclusively use this article in your answer. “

Our last discussion will bring into focus a lot of the elements that we discussed throughout these last few weeks. For example, think back to the beginning of the course when we learned about the finer points of evolution and how natural section plays a major part. How non-human primates adapted to their environments through physical or behavioral adaptations. Finally we are learning about how our earliest ancestors became bipedal. This leads us to discussion number three.

This discussion revolves around our earliest ancestors. What set them on the direction to the Genus Homo? How did the environment effect these changes? What are some of the physical adaptions (think about our hands, feet, pelvis and overall body proportions)? Finally, what are some of the ways this adaptation helped these species become successful?

For discussion posts, you are to write out your thoughts on the topic—about 1 or 2 paragraphs—and post it in the discussion forum.