Reporters Without Borders: Press freedoms under pressure in pandemic
A new report says that while press freedom around the world has been restricted during the coronavirus pandemic, journalism continues to be a tool against misinformation.
Many countries around the world have responded to the coronavirus pandemic by restricting reporting
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased repression and attacks on journalism worldwide, a report published on Tuesday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) concluded.
Reporting on coronavirus developments has been restricted in countries across the globe. Some countries have also seen governments use the crisis to tighten their grip on the media while others, including Germany, have seen an increase in attacks on journalists.
Eastern Europe, Central Asia Rank Near Bottom In Press Freedom
April 20, 2021 04:21 GMT
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Unprecedented crackdowns on reporters covering protests in Belarus and the obstruction of reporting on the war over Nagorno-Karabakh were among the factors that kept Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the bottom of the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
But the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said of all the somber developments in its latest ranking, released on April 20, the most disturbing for the future of press freedom in the region was the evolution in Russia, which the watchdog said followed “a political model involving ever greater repression of independent journalists and media.”
Watchdog finds journalism not free in three-quarters of 180 surveyed nations 2 minutes read
Paris, Apr 20 (EFE).- Journalism is “completely or partly blocked” in nearly three-quarters of the 180 countries surveyed for the World Press Freedom Index, the annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Tuesday.
The media watchdog said it found that journalism was “totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained in 59 others.”
“The Index data reflect a dramatic deterioration in people’s access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage,” said the report released Tuesday.
It said some countries had used the coronavirus pandemic as grounds to block journalists from accessing information sources and reporting in the field.
pandemic tore across the world, Reporters Without Borders (
RSF) said in its annual report published Tuesday.
in this year s ranking
Bulgaria is 112th from a total of 180 countries included in the index, the Paris-based NGO announced on its website.
Bulgaria has fallen one spot down since last year, when it was 111th.
In terms of media freedom it remains the last among the countries of the European Union, according to Reporters Without Borders. This country s worst ranking was 113th in 2016, and its best was 34th in 2002. It now ranks last among the EU Member States. The second worst performing country in the EU is Hungary which, at 92nd, is 10 places ahead of Bulgaria. In the Balkans, only Turkey (153rd) is ranked below
by EURACTIV.
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