“Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy,” Reporters Without Borders’ annual world press freedom index says.
REPORTERS WITHOUT Borders’ annual world press freedom index showed that 2011 was a rich year for change, especially in the Arab world, but also one that saw growing crackdowns in media freedom worldwide.
Eritrea was the country with least media freedom, in 179th place, with North Korea one place behind.
“Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy,” the group said as it released its 10th annual index.
Reporters Without Borders is a Paris-based non-governmental organisation that seeks to defend journalists’ freedom to work and combat censorship internationally.
In Afghanistan (150th) and Pakistan (151st), reporters remained under constant threat from the Taliban, religious extremists, separatist movements and political groups. With 10 deaths last year, Pakistan was the world’s most dangerous country for journalists for the second year in a row.
“Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them,” it said.
Nepal witnessed a modest improvement in press freedom last year improving the ranking in the Press Freedom Index by 13 positions.
“In Nepal, a decline in attacks by Maoist groups in the south and greater efficiency on the part of the justice system account for the modest improvement in the country’s ranking,” RSF said. “However, press freedom was marred by threats and attacks by politicians and armed groups throughout the year.”
Nepal is ranked 106th. The country was at 119th position in Press Freedom Index 2010.
Nepal’s ranking is however one of the best ranking that the South Asian nations received. Only Bhutan (70) and Maldives (73) are ahead of Nepal while Bangladesh (129), India (131), Afghanistan (150), Pakistan (151) and Sri Lanka (163) all rank lower than Nepal in the 173-nation index.
The media freedom watchdog also added that the Nepali journalists were regularly subjected to threats from rival political groups and their supporters in 2011.
The report noted that violence and censorship on the rise in Asia as violence and impunity persist in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Philippines. It also noted more repression on press in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China.
“With 10 deaths in 2011, Pakistan was the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second year in a row,” the report said.
“This year’s index sees many changes in the rankings, changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world,” RSF said on global review of media freedom.
“Many media paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations or opposition movements. Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes. The past year also highlighted the leading role played by netizens in producing and disseminating news.”
Sri Lanka dropped down five places last year from 2010 to rank among the 20 worst countries in a leading survey of press freedom.
The annual World Press Freedom Index for 2011 compiled by Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has ranked Sri Lanka 163 out of 178 countries ranked. Sri Lanka was ranked 158 in 2010.
The index widely accepted around the world indicates the increasing suppression on media freedom in the country, media organizations point out.
In an accompanying report, the RSF said while violence and impunity persisted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Philippines, there was more repression in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China.
"In Sri Lanka (163rd), the stranglehold of the Rajapakse clan forced the last few opposition journalists to flee the country. Any that stayed behind were regularly subjected to harassment and threats. Attacks were less common but impunity and official censorship of independent news sites put an end to pluralism and contributed more than ever to self-censorship by almost all media outlets," the RSF statement said.
Elsewhere, in the South Asian region Pakistan at 151st position was the world's deadliest country for journalists for the second year in a row in 2011 with 10 deaths.
Nepal at 106th has shown modest improvement from the previous year due to a decline in attacks by Maoist groups and greater efficiency on the part of the justice system, the RSF said.
Ranking Bangladesh at 129th position, the RSF reported that opposition groups and the ruling Awami League took turns to attack and obstruct the press.
The survey ranked India at 131st position citing that journalists were exposed to violence stemming from the persistent conflicts in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir as well as to the threats from mafia groups.
The United States dropped 27 places in the rank to the 47th due to the many arrests of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street protests.
The country with the freest media in the world was Finland, followed by Norway, Estonia, the Netherlands and Austria. Ireland came in 15th in the index.
Elsewhere within the European Union, countries such as Bulgaria (80th), Greece (70th) and Italy (61st) failed to address the issue of media freedom violations, largely because of a lack of political will.
Libya came in 154th in the list, while Yemen was in 171th place.
“The future of both of these countries remains uncertain, and the place they will allow the media is undecided. The same goes for Egypt, which fell 39 places to 166th place.”
Syria was 176th, because journalists were unable to work because of total censorship, widespread surveillance, indiscriminate violence and government manipulation.
The report also highlights how pro-democracy movements that tried to emulate the example of the Arab revolutions were brutally suppressed. Vietnam (172nd) saw many arrests, while China (174th) stepped up its system of controlling news and information in response to public dissatisfaction with corruption and other injustices.
The biggest falls in the index were in Africa – Djibouti fell 49 places to 159th, Malawi (146th) fell 67 places and Uganda fell 43 places to 139th.
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