From reading your entries on this thread, I get the impression that basically you have no clue what freedom is.

I also get the impression that you think that we, in the west, do not have minds of our own; thus, not having the ability to pick and choose what mediams to believe. We are not sheep just blindly following a leader of the flock.

You said, "There are efforts made by the media in the west to control images depicted and to hide information critical to public that would make a big difference."

We, as westerners, know and understand that fact. We enjoy the freedom to pick and choose what mediam we want to believe and even compare it to other mediams that may not follow our beliefs to make a comparison and then analytically come up with our own opinion.

WE HAVE THAT freedom. The freedom to read what we want and to believe what we want depending on the various mediams we choose.

IMO you don't know what that kind of freedom is, so you can't possibly understand the importance of freedom of the press.

We are neither sheep or puppets, my friend.