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| China releases US human rights record in 2002 （9） |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-03 14:04:01 |
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"Money politics" has made more and more American people lose interest in political participation.
Statistics show the United States has experienced declining voter turnout in presidential election years for about four decades.
Measured against the voting age population, turnout in presidential election years fell from its high of 62.8 percent in 1960 to an estimated 51.2 percent in 2000.
In contrast, 60 percent of eligible voters shunned the midterm elections in 2002, leaving the voter turnout at 40 percent.
A survey of minority voters in three cities of California showed almost all the surveyed were fed up with the fact that money can buy over politics and were not interested in political participation.
Asian American voters reckon money had too much influence over politics, which is unfair； African Americans and Hispanics felt being shut out of the door of politics and had become its victims.
The United States has been flaunting its "freedom of the press," but it met with criticism from many sides in 2002 in this respect.
In an annual report published on Feb. 21, 2002, the International Press Institute accused the United States of violating freedom of the press and said it is the most astonishing event of 2001 that the way the Bush Administration treated the work of the media during the Afghan war and the practices of the Bush Administration attempting to suppress freedom of speech by independent media （Vienna, Feb. 21, 2002, AFP）.
Two senior journalists with the Washington Post wrote in their book entitled "The News About The News: American Journalism In Peril" that practices of pursuing profits have destroyed the sense of mission of the journalistic community of the United States, and believed an overwhelming majority of media owners and publishing businessmen forced newspaper editors and TV news executives to concentrate on profits as opposed to quality of coverage （New York, March 29, 2002, AP）.
In its annual report published on May 2, 2002, Reporters Without Borders exposed since September 11 attacks, the United States has exerted pressure on the journalistic community in the war against terrorism, which has restricted the freedom of the press （Paris, May 2, 2002, EFE）.
On August 6, 2002, a major news organ in the United States published a survey showing the public wanting the media to "shut up."
The survey found among the respondents, 69 percent believe the media is biased, and over two thirds of them read news reports with disbelief. （More）
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Editor: Yang Feiyang Source:Xinhua
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