Reporters Without Borders notes worsened global press freedom

BY IDRISS CESAY

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a non-profit, international, non-governmental organization committed to the promotion and the defense of freedom of the press, raises concerns in its just-published 2018 World-press-freedom-index about press freedom.

According to the 2018 index, journalists around the world faced more hostility in 2017 than in the previous year, at the hand of a growing number of politicians who inhibit journalism. The report states that the trend was prevalent, not just in countries with authoritarian leaderships, but also in nations with democratic rule.

Norway ranks highest among the countries where journalists enjoy the most freedom, a category that also comprises Sweden and the Netherlands. As in previous reports, North Korea, Eritrea and Turkmenistan are at the bottom of the class.

The Gambia, whose autocratic president for decades, Yahya Jammeh, had one of the worst records in Africa as an enemy of the media, gained 21 spots. (Jammeh was forced out in January 2017.) South Korea and Greece faired much better, too, gaining 20 and 14 spots respectively.

The opposite trend occurred in Malta, Mauritania and the Czech Republic which lost respectively 18, 17 and 11 spots.

Donald Trump’s United States and the Philippines stood out as two democratic countries where threats to reporters have negatively affected the freedom of the press. Consequently, both countries have lost several sports in the 2018 RSF’s index.

According to the index, Sub-Saharan Africa has maintained its third place in the ranking by geographical region. While noting a slightly better overall indicator than last year in Sub-Saharan Africa, the index points to worrisome situations where “journalists are often the victims of intimidation, physical violence, and arrest.”

The Middle East and North Africa are the worst world’s spots for journalists, says the report.

“The unleashing of hatred towards journalists is one of the worst threats to democracies,” states RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire in the index. He adds:

“Political leaders who fuel loathing for reporters bear heavy responsibility because they undermine the concept of public debate based on facts instead of propaganda. To dispute the legitimacy of journalism today is to play with extremely dangerous political fire.”