June 24, 2013

Snowden’s Tour of the World’s Least Press-Friendly Countries


Last time we checked, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had left Hong Kong with China’s blessing and was headed to Moscow, reportedly in transit to Cuba and finally, Ecuador. (He’s also expressed interest in getting to Iceland.) His current whereabouts are unknown. While we play “Where in the World Is Edward Snowden?,” here’s a quick look at the countries his odyssey has taken him to or may take him to, viewed through the lens of their relative records on press freedom, political liberties, and corruption, as determined by Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, and Transparency International:

Country Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking (1=most free, 179=least) Freedom House press freedom score (0=highest, 100=lowest) Freedom House political rights/civil liberties ratings (1=highest, 7=lowest) Transparency International corruption perceptions ranking (1=least corrupt, 174=most)
United States 32 18 1/1 19
Hong Kong 58 35 — 14
China 173 83 7/6 80
Russia 148 81 6/5 133
Cuba 171 92 7/6 58
Ecuador 119 61 3/3 118
Iceland 9 14 1/1 11

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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