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Saturday, April 20th, 2019

2019 World Press Freedom Index – A cycle of fear

Author:    
Source:     Reporters Without Borders
Publication Date:     20 April 2019 (used)
 Link: 2019 World Press Freedom Index – A cycle of fear
Stephan:   The Nordic nations and Holland are societies in which wellbeing is the highest social priority. As a result these countries are always in the top five in every social outcome category. In contrast, the United States isn’t a leader in anything but having the largest number of incarcerated men and women, the largest military budget, the most number of ongoing wars, and the most money. Press freedom, surely we lead in press freedom, right? Well, no. To quote from the study: “Norway is ranked first in the 2019 Index for the third year running while Finland (up two places) has taken second place from the Netherlands (down one at 4th)… As a result of an increasingly hostile climate that goes beyond Donald Trump’s comments, the United States (48th) has fallen three places in this year’s Index and the media climate is now classified as “problematic…”

Published annually by RSF since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries. It assesses the level of pluralism, media independence, the environment for the media and self-censorship, the legal framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information. It does not evaluate government policy.

The global indicator and the regional indicators are calculated on the basis of the scores registered for each country. These country scores are calculated from the answers to a questionnaire in 20 languages that is completed by experts throughout the world, supported by a qualitative analysis. The scores measure constraints and violations, so the higher the score, the worse the situation. Because of growing awareness of the Index, it is an extremely useful advocacy tool.

 

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The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear. The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues […]

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