Freedom House says global press freedom declined in 2016 (video)
Freedom House, a U.S.-based pro-democracy watchdog organization says only 13 percent of the world’s population live in countries with a free press. In its annual report released on April 28, the U.S.-based democracy monitor says 42 percent of the world’s population has a "partly free" press, while 45 percent live in countries where the media environment is not free. Global press freedom has hit a 13-year low, threatened by US President Donald Trump's media bashing and restrictions pursued by both democratic and authoritarian governments. The nongovernmental group says global press freedom declined in 2016 to its lowest point in more than a decade due to continued crackdowns on independent media in authoritarian states and unprecedented threats to journalists and media outlets in major democracies. The report -- titled Freedom of the Press 2017: Press Freedom's Dark Horizon -- assesses the degree of media freedom in 199 countries and territories to classify each as either "free," "partly free," or "not free." Press freedom was on a modest decline in the United States even before Donald Trump took office because of the industry's financial woes and news organizations' increasingly partisan positions, the report said. But Trump is worsening the situation with his attacks on "fake news" and characterization of the news media as "enemies of the people," according to Freedom House. “Such comments suggest a hostility toward the fundamental principles and purposes of press freedom, especially the news media's role in holding governments to account for their words and actions." The attacks on US media also have the effect of giving authoritarian regimes a green light to crack down on their countries' independent press, Freedom House added. "A greater danger is that the United States will stop being a model and aspirational standard for other countries," the report said. "Protection of press freedom in the United States remains vital to the defense and expansion of press freedom worldwide; indeed, it is a cornerstone of global democracy." The report says Russia and China have a negative influence on the world press freedom index. The regimes in these countries are strengthening their influence in their territories and trying to have influence on other countries as well. “Russia especially is taking advantage of the situation by seeking to manipulate news and social media content in other countries,” Freedom House said. Freedom House ranks Ukraine as "partly free," while Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea region is ranked "not free." Countries with notably sharp declines in press freedom included Turkey, due to increased censorship, closures of independent media outlets and a sharp rise in detentions and violence against journalists. Armenia is the only country where the press and the Internet are on the opposite sides. Armenia is ranked ‘not free in terms of press freedom while the the Internet enjoys freedom in the country.
