Press Freedom in Decline
It’s World Press Freedom day today, to mark the importance of a free media which is denied in so many countries. Only 17% of countries enjoy a free press with 61 partly free, 64 not free and press freedom is on the decline, says a report published on Friday by Freedom House.
Journalists die regularly reporting on stories that Governments don’t want told, risking their personal safety to witness and record history, natural disasters, wars and human rights violations by oppressive regimes. 70 journalists were killed last year and nearly 700 journalists have been killed in the 16 years since the first World Press Freedom Day was marked in 1993.
This year’s survey shows a seventh straight year of decline in global press freedom with deterioration occurring for the first time in every region. Long term offenders for negating a free press include Iran, Burma, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, Cuba, Eritrea and North Korea amongst others, but declines in Israel, Italy and Taiwan illustrate that established democracies with traditional open media are not immune to restricting freedom.
Hi Claire
Thank you for the post. I think this is such an important issue and I’m surprised by the media’s lack of coverage today.