Journalists in Uruguay are freer to hold the powerful to account than their peers in the United States, according to a report released on Wednesday examining press freedom around the world.
In its annual Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders warns that news media around the world is facing its greatest threat yet from governments. Those threats to the free press are greatest in Western democracies, the group said, where its index has charted declines democratic institutions for years.
Media freedom in the West is now reaching a “tipping point” in the ability to hold the powerful to account, the group’s report said.
“The democracies that have traditionally regarded media freedom as one of the foundations on which they are built must continue to be a model for the rest of the world, and not the opposite,” SF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a prepared statement. “By eroding this fundamental freedom on the grounds of protecting their citizens, the democracies are in danger of losing their souls.”
In the annual rankings, the U.S. fell two spots to No. 43. Chile and the U.K. also fell two positions, to Nos. 33 and 40, respectively.
Northern European countries ranked the highest, with Norway at No. 1, Sweden at No. 2 and Finland at No. 3. Denmark and the Netherlands rounded out the top five countries. Costa Rica (No. 6) and Jamaica (No. 8) are the only countries in the Western Hemisphere to finish in the top 10.
North Korea finished last among the 180 countries assessed in the ranking. China finished at No. 176 and Vietnam at No. 175. Syria is the deadliest country in the world for journalists, the group said.
RSF singled out campaigns by President Donald Trump in the U.S. and the Brexit campaign in the U.K. to explain the drop by those two countries in its rankings. Both campaigns “were marked by high-profile media bashing, a highly toxic anti-media discourse that drove the world into a new era of post-truth, disinformation, and fake news.”
RSF also cited Western governments’ “obsession with surveillance and violations of the right to the confidentiality of sources” contributed to various countries declines in the annual ranking. The administration of Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, prosecuted more whistleblowers than any all previous administrations combined.
In its report, RSF cited specific developments in the past year of concern:
— In Germany, which ranks 16th in the RSF index, the Bundestag — the country’s parliament — passed a law in October 2016 that extends mass surveillance powers by the government.
— In the U.K., RSF notes the government in 2016 adopted a law extending the surveillance powers of the British intelligence agencies.
Press freedom deteriorated in nearly two-thirds of countries of the 180 countries assessed in the past year, the organization’s report said. Worldwide, media freedom constraints and violations have increased 14 percent in the past five years.
A global perspective is needed when considering RSF’s warning about Western democracies, said Sheila Coronel, dean of academics at the Columbia School of Journalism.
“I don’t think you can compare the situations in the U.S. or U.K. to Bahrain, Egypt or Turkey,” said Coronel, citing laws and courts in place in the U.S. and U.K. that cover freedom of speech. “There is definitely concerns of what is happening in the U.S., with journalists being harassed.”
RSF ranked the Middle East and North Africa as the greatest violator of press freedom, posing deadly threats to journalists covering conflicts in that region. Eastern Europe and Central Asia finished as the second worst region for violating press rights, followed by the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas. The EU and the Balkans is ranked as the region that most respects press freedom.
The RSF report did note some promising news: Colombia (No. 129) and Gambia (No. 143), difficult, even deadly places for journalists to work, both moved up in the rankings. No journalists were killed in Colombia in 2016, the first such time that a year passed without a journalists dying in that country in seven years, said Margaux Ewen, RSF’s advocacy and communications director based in Washington. In Gambia, Ewen said the government has rediscovered uncensored newspapers and is planning to amend legislation that is restrictive for the media.
RSF, which stands for Reporters Sans Frontières, is an international non-profit organization founded in 1985 in France. The organization’s rankings of countries by press freedom is here.
To compile its Press Freedom Index, RSF combines hard data, such as attacks and threats against journalists, with results of a questionnaire sent out to academics, lawyers and journalists around the world. Its methodology is here.
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Global Press Freedoms Weakening, Group Warns originally appeared on usnews.com
