Freedom House Releases 2016 Freedom of the Press Report

Image from the Freedom House website.

INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG Freedom House released last April 27 its 2016 Freedom of the Press report, which assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and digital media freedom in 199 countries and territories.

According to the report, “Press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power.”

Each country and territory is given a total press freedom score based on 23 methodology questions divided into three subcategories: legal environment, political environment, and economic environment. Based on the score, a country or territory is given the status designation of Free, Partly Free or Not Free.

Thirteen percent of the world’s population enjoys a Free press, 41 percent has a Partly Free press, and 46 percent live in Not Free media environments. The Philippines has been designated Partly Free, with a score of 44 out of 100 total points.

The 10 lowest-rated countries and territories were Belarus, Crimea, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

According to Jennifer Dunham, research director for Freedom of the Press, “The forces against press freedom were strongest in the Middle East and Turkey, where governments and militant groups pressured journalists and media outlets to take sides, creating a ‘with us or against us’ climate and attacking those who refused to be cowed.”

Freedom House also reported that the six most dangerous topics for journalists are 1) organized crime, 2) corruption, 3) environment  and land development, 4) religion, 5) disputed sovereignty and 6) “Lèse-majesté and beyond” (offense against reigning sovereign or state).