Paris – Reporters without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday said Freedom of the Press was experiencing a deep and disturbing decline with increased state control of media and the rise of authoritarian governments.
It noted that by using a global indicator that calculated media freedom violations, the France-based watchdog said the global situation for the press deteriorated by 3.7 per cent since 2015.
Meanwhile, it said that the freedom had deteriorated since 2013 setting it at 13.6 per cent.
According to RSF, Europe still ranks highest on the index of press freedom worldwide, while Africa unseated the Americas in second place for the first time.
RSF said this was due to a rise in violence against journalists in the Americas.
Northern Africa and the Middle East ranked as the lowest region for press freedom, with Asia and Eastern Europe/Central Asia also ranking poorly.
“The survival of independent news coverage is becoming increasingly precarious in both the state and privately-owned media because of the threat from ideologies.
“Especially religious ideologies, that are hostile to media freedom, and from large-scale propaganda machines,’’ the report said. (dpa/NAN)
