The 2017 World Press Freedom Index is out with Norway, Sweden, Finland Denmark, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Jamaica, Belgium and Iceland in the top ten position. The Report is compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows an increase in the number of countries where the media freedom situation is very grave and highlights the scale and variety of the obstacles to media freedom throughout the world.
According to the RSF, ” The World Press Freedom map is getting darker. The global indicator calculated by RSF has never been so high, which means that media freedom is under threat now more than ever. Three more countries sank into the darkest depths of the Index in 2017: Burundi (down 4 at 160th), Egypt (down 2 at 161st) and Bahrain (down 2 at 164th). A total of 21 countries are now colored black on the press freedom map because the situation there is classified as “very bad,” and 51 (two more than last year) are colored red, meaning that the situation in these countries is classified as “bad.” In all, the situation has worsened in nearly two thirds (62.2%) of the 180 countries in the Index. At the other end of the black zone, three countries have monopolized the last three places for the past 12 years. Ever since the 2005 Index, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Eritrea have consistently suppressed and crushed all divergence from the state propaganda. “
