An organization called Reporters Without Borders has released its third annual Press Freedom rankings, attempting to gauge press freedom in every country in the world.
Canada 18th. USA 22nd. By being in the top 20, Canada is rated as having a "good situation." The USA has a "satisfactory" rating.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11715
The main page:
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=20
A Practical Guide For Journalists, in case you ever wanted to know:
http://www.damocles.org/IMG/pdf/GUIDE_Anglais_2002.pdf
Cowperson