Report claims press freedom eroding in United States.

"Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security' to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on terrorism.'"

In its annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, the news media advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders rated the United States 53rd out of 168 countries in allowing press freedom, down from 17th when its reporting began five years ago.