Media freedom, under more threat than ever, Reporters Without Borders say

The freedom of the media is under threat now more than ever, according to the annual index made by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who compiled data from 180 countries.

According to the freedom index, in 21 countries (three more than last year) the situation of the media can be classified as ”very bad,” and in 51 (two more than last year) the situation is classified as ”bad.”

Overall, the situation has worsened in nearly two thirds (62.2%) of the 180 countries in the Index.

Burundi, Egypt and Bahrain were the three countries that got into the ”very bad” category. In Burundi, ranked 160th out of 180 in the 2017 Index, dozens of journalists have fled into exile after being charged with supporting a coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Nkurunziza has launched a crackdown in 2015 against media outlets that covered the coup attempt that came after his decision to run for a third term.

The remaining journalists now have to follow the government line. Editors are told to “correct” articles that cause displeasure, and the National Intelligence Service is known to have interrogates several journalists.

There are reports of some of them being beaten, while one journalist, Jean Bigirimana, has disappeared.

Egypt and Bahrain are the other two countries to make the ”very bad” category on the Index. Many journalists have been imprisoned in both countries – 24 in Egypt and 14 in Bahrain – and they both detain their journalists for very long periods of time.

In Egypt, for example, photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid has been held in prison for more than three years without being tried after covering a violent dispersal of a demonstration organised by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now branded as a terrorist organisation.

The bottom places are held by Eritrea and North Korea, where freedom of the press is nonexistent and only state propaganda is allowed.

The U.K., down two positions in the Index

The United Kingdom has gone down two positions in the Freedom Index, from 38 in 2016 to 40, due to new regulations that hinder journalists freedom to protect their sources.
The extreme surveillance legislation adopted in the Parliament and the Investigatory Powers Act, with resulted in insufficient protection mechanisms for whistleblowers, journalists, and their sources, investigative journalism is now under threat, according to RSF.

The report also states that the Law Commission’s proposal for a new ”Espionage Act” would make it easy to classify journalists as spies and jail them for up to 14 years for simply obtaining leaked information.

Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 remains cause for concern – in particular, the law’s punitive cost-shifting measure that could hold publishers liable for the costs of all claims made against them, regardless of merit, RSF says.

The U.S. press – ”enemy of the American people”

The US has also gone down two positions, from 41 to 43 in the Freedom Index, following the verbal attacks of president Donald Trump against several journalists.

Trump has declared the press an ”enemy of the American people” and attempted to block White House access to multiple media outlets in retaliation for critical reporting.

Freedom for the US media is also facing problems left unresolved since the Obama administration, the RSF says.

”The Obama administration waged a war on whistle-blowers who leaked information about its activities, leading to the prosecution of more leakers than any previous administration combined. To this day, American journalists are still not protected by a federal shield law guaranteeing their right to protect their sources and other confidential work-related information”, the report states.

The special case of Turkey

Turkey has gone down four positions in the Freedom Index, from 151 to 155, now being considered as the ”world’s biggest prison for media personnel”, according to RSF.

After the failed coup of July 2016, the authorities have eliminated dozens of media outlets, while dozens of journalists have been imprisoned without trial.

Those still free are exposed to other forms of arbitrary treatment including waves of trials, withdrawal of press cards, cancellation of passports, and seizure of assets. Censorship of online social networks has also reached unprecedented levels, according to the report.

The faultless Scandinavian countries

The top three countries in the Freedom Index are Norway, Sweden and Finland.

According to RSF, Norway’s media faces no censorship or political pressure, while violence against journalists and media is rare.

State subsidies for the media are indirect for general news print media (which are also VAT exempt) and direct for print media specialising in opinion.

Sweden has maintained it’s press freedom, witch was granted by law since 1776. The law not only guarantees freedom of the press but also the public’s right of access to state-held documents.

Ranked first in the Freedom Index for the past five years, Finland has been ousted from the top spot after the ”Sipilägate” scandal.

In 2016, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä reportedly pressured Yle public broadcaster to modify its coverage of a possible conflict of interest involving him.

Overall, the report shows, in 2017, 8 journalists and two bloggers were killed, 193 journalists and 166 bloggers were imprisoned.