Even though nonprofit news organizations have been a vital part of our media for decades, in the last five years we’ve seen a rapid expansion in the noncommercial journalism sector. Coming at a moment of profound transition in the news business, these nonprofit startups are learning the ropes even as they are changing the rules. As such, they are constantly negotiating a complex set of tensions that push and pull them toward the future. They are trying to be nimble but sustainable, trying to push the envelope but not leave their communities behind, trying to burn brightly without burning out.

They say nothing is certain except death and taxes. Last weekend, those two things went hand in hand when the Chicago News Cooperative — a major nonprofit journalism organization — was forced to suspend operations, thanks in part to the IRS.

After arresting more than 20 journalists in New York City, and threatening press in various other ways, the New York City Police Department has admitted that it has reprimanded only two of its officers for their actions.

This week Reporters Without Borders released its 2011–2012 Press Freedom Index, and much of the attention has focused on the fact that the United States dropped 27 places to 47th in the world, thanks in large part to the journalist arrests at Occupy Wall Street events. For a nation that has built its model of governance on freedom of the press, that ranking should be a wake-up call, and should spark a national debate about how we are going to defend the First Amendment in the digital age.

On its own, the study from Reporters Without Borders is a powerful snapshot of press freedom around the world. However, it’s worth cross-referencing the report’s findings with a few other data points to better understand how the United States stacks up, and why this ranking is so important. When the lists below are viewed side by side, it becomes clear that press freedom correlates directly with other measures of democratic health.