by Rachel E. Gross Freedom House Recently, one of our readers noticed something strange at Washington, DC’s Newseum. Standing in front of the World Press Freedom Map—the color-coded map that illustrates which countries enjoy true freedom of the press—she was appalled to see that Israel was listed as just “Partly Free.” Our reader asked: How could the Middle East’s only true democracy not have a free press? So we decided to do some sleuthing. The first thing we learned was that, in most places around the world, being the press is no walk in the park. According to this year’s just-released Freedom of the Press Survey—the annual report by independent watchdog Freedom House that informs the Newseum’s map—just 14 percent of us live in a country where reporters don’t face harassment, censorship, detainment, imprisonment or worse. The second thing...

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