PRESS RELEASE TOKYO
Title:
A solemn call to resistance against the new models of oppression/
“Freedom of information in Japan”
Venue: Foreign Correspondent Club of Japan (20F Yurakucho Denki Building 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo)
Hour: At 12:30-14:00 P.M
Date: July 21rd (Fri)
1 – PRESS CONFERENCE PROGRAM
- Christophe Deloire (RSF secretary-general)
A solemn call to resistance against the new models of oppression
- RSF Video: “War reporters” (30 seconds)
- Shirin Ebadi (2003 Nobel Peace Prize Winner; RSF Emeritus Board member)
“Five methods to resist against despotic regimes”
- RSF Video: “Great People” (30 seconds)
- Wu’er Kaixi
“Liu Xiaobo, the assassination of a hero of freedom of expression in China”
- RSF Video: “When I grow up” (40 seconds)
- Christophe Deloire (RSF secretary-general)
“Freedom of information in Japan”
- RSF Video: “Spoiler alert” (40 seconds)
- Questions and Answers
2 – PRESS CONFERENCE MAIN CONTENTS
Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), will visit Taiwan, Korea and Japan together with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi for high-level official meetings aimed at promoting freedom of information.
Mr. Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), will visit Taiwan, Korea and Japan together with Dr. Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and RSF Emeritus Board member. The purpose of this regional mission is to engage local authorities to better support freedom of information and to promote the newly-opened RSF East Asia bureau.
The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, also known under its French name Reporters sans frontières (RSF), has recently opened its first Asia bureau in Taipei. RSF is an international non-profit organization that holds a consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF). More than 30 years after its creation, it is comprised of headquarters in Paris, 12 offices (Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Taipei, Tunis, Vienna and Washington D.C.) and correspondents in 130 countries.
The new bureau in Taipei will focus on the east Asian territories including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia. “The opening of an East Asia office corresponds to the ongoing international expansion of our association and aims to better address the new challenges of media freedoms in this increasingly influential region of the world, explains RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire. The choice of Taiwan was made not only with regards to its central geographic location and ease of operating logistics, but also considering its status of being the freest place in Asia in our annual Press Freedom Index ranking.”
The Taipei bureau will serve as a strategic platform for exercising influence and action on the multiple fronts in which RSF is engaged: advocacy on behalf of press rights; awareness building in support of specific campaigns, missions and actions; assistance, grants and legal aid to journalists; and capacity building for journalists and local partner organizations (e.g. education and training on cyber-security).
In addition to an agenda of official meetings at the highest level, Dr. Christophe Deloire and Dr. Shirin Ebadi, with the assistance of Taipei-based RSF Emeritus Board member Mr. Wu’er Kaixi, will take part in the following events:
Tuesday July 18, 2017 in Taipei (Taiwan)
- 11:00 – RSF Press Conference (Taiwan National Library)
- 14:00 – Public Conference “Freedom of expression and journalism in the post-truth era” (Taiwan National Library)
- 17:00 – RSF Private Reception (Taiwan National Library)
Wednesday July 19, 2017 in Seoul (South Korea)
- 14:00 – RSF Press Conference (Journalist’s Association of Korea – JAK)
Friday July 21, 2017 in Tokyo (Japan)
- 12:300- RSF Luncheon/Press Conference (The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan – FCCJ)
Co-ordinator: Mr. Cedric Alviani, RSF Taipei bureau director (East-Asian region). Email: calviani@rsf.org Tel: +886955317480
3 – THE HOST VENUE
The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan :
Making the news in Japan and the world since 1945
Tthe Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious press clubs. Founded in 1945 by newspaper, wire service, magazine, radio journalists and photographers who arrived in Japan following the end of the Pacific War, theFCCJ has, throughout its history, been the place in not only Japan but also Asia where news has been made. Presidents, Prime Ministers, statesmen,corporate titans, international arts, cultural and sports celebrities from Japan and around the world, as well as many others, famous and infamous, have visited FCCJ over the years.
Today, the FCCJ remains a vital and active organization. It served as an important hub for not only Japan-based journalists but the hundreds of others from abroad who flew in following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan’s Tohoku region. In addition to a regular series of professional events, including press conferences, which form the core of the Club’s activities, the FCCJ offers a library and workroom for journalist members, as well as dining facilities for all members.
The FCCJ’s convenient location, beside JR Yurakucho station in central Tokyo, makes it the ideal place to file a story, share a drink with friends, or host a party. The FCCJ’s committees are involved in everything from planning press events to hosting world-class chefs to running the annual FCCJ Scholarship Awards, which provide money to university students seriously interested in pursuing a journalism career.
3 – INTERNATIONAL GUESTS
Shirin Ebadi
2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, member of the RSF Emeritus Board
Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, born in 1947, is one of Iran’s leading human rights defenders and has been outspoken in her opposition to violence and censorship. A former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, Dr. Ebadi was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women’s, children’s, and refugee rights. She was the first Iranian and the first woman to receive the prize. Ebadi lived in Tehran, but she has been in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to the increase in persecution of Iranian citizens who are critical of the current regime. In 2004, she was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the “100 most powerful women in the world”. She is also included in a published list of the “100 most influential women of all time.”
Christophe Deloire
Director-general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Christophe Deloire, a French national born in 1971, serves as director-general of Reporter Without Borders (RSF) since may 2012. He was previously the director of the Paris-based Journalists Training Centre (CFJ) since 2008. After graduating from the Higher School for Economic and Commercial Sciences (ESSEC) in Paris in 1994, Deloire did his national service at TF1 television’s bureau in Berlin and then began working as a journalist for newspapers and TV stations, above all Arte and LCI. He worked for the French newsweekly Le Point from 1998 to 2007, doing investigative stories and features in France and abroad. An editor with the French publishing house Flammarion until 2009, he is the author of several best-selling books and a documentary film.
Wu’er Kaixi
Prominent freedom defender, member of the RSF Emeritus Board
Örkesh Dölet (alternatively transliterated Uerkesh Davlet), commonly known as Wu’er Kaixi, born in 1968, is a Chinese dissident of Uyghur heritage known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989. He achieved prominence while studying at Beijing Normal University as a hunger striker who rebuked Chinese Premier Li Peng on national television. He was one of the main leaders of the pro-reform Beijing Students’ Autonomous Federation, and helped lead abortive negotiations with officials. Wu’er Kaixi now resides in Taiwan, where he works as a political commentator. His attempts to turn himself into China have made him one of the most visible dissidents in recent years. He has run for congress member in the Taiwan’s Legislative Congress twice.
Cédric Alviani
East-Asia bureau director, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Cédric Alviani, born in 1973, serves as director of the Taipei-based RSF East-Asia bureau. Cedric Alviani is a French national and graduate from the CUEJ journalism school in Strasbourg. He has lived in Asia over the past 18 years, initially serving as an audio-visual specialist for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2005, Cedric founded the Taiwan European Film Festival (TEFF) and from 2010 to 2012, served as General Manager of the France Taiwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFT).
4 – REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (RSF), A LEADING DEFENDER
OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, also known under its French name Reporters sans frontières (RSF), is an international non-profit organization that holds a consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. More than 30 years after its creation, it is comprised of headquarters in Paris, 12 offices (Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Taipei, Tunis, Vienna and Washington D.C.) and correspondents in 130 countries.
Freedom of information is fundamental in any democracy, but nearly half of the world’s population has no access to freely-reported news and information. Freedom of expression and information is the first and most important of freedoms. How can we combat atrocities against civilians, tackle the tragedy of child soldiers, defend women’s rights or defend our environment if journalists aren’t free to report the facts, draw attention to abuses and appeal to the public’s conscience?
There are countries where the torturers stopped torturing when the media began talking about them, and corrupt politicians abandoned shady practices when investigative journalists published compromising information.
An international NGO
Based in Paris, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is an independent NGO with consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF). Its foreign sections, its bureaux in ten cities, including Brussels, Washington, Berlin, Tunis, Rio de Janeiro, and Stockholm, and its network of correspondents in 130 countries give RSF the ability to mobilize support, challenge governments and wield influence both on the ground and in the ministries and precincts where media and Internet standards and legislation are drafted.
30 years defending freedom of information
Founded by four journalists in the southern French city Montpellier in 1985, RSF is now one of the world’s leading NGOs in the defense and promotion of freedom of information. Registered in France as a non-profit organization since 1995, RSF has distinguished itself in China, by its protests during the 2008 Beijing Olympics; in Africa, by creating the only independent radio station broadcasting to Eritreans in 2009; in Haiti, by creating a media support center after the January 2010 earthquake; and more recently in Syria by providing training to journalists and bloggers.
Reports and press releases in many languages
Every day, RSF issues press releases and reports in French, English, Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi (and often in other languages such as Chinese, Portuguese and Russian) about the state of freedom of information throughout the world and how it is being violated. Its statements in the international media increase public awareness and influence leaders as regards both individual cases and general issues.
International recognition
Well-known internationally, RSF has received awards throughout the world: the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s First Amendment Award, the city of Bonn’s 2014 DemokratiePreis, the 2013 International Association of Press Clubs Prize, the 2009 Charlemagne Medal for European Media, the 2006 Emmy Award of the U.S. Academy of Television Arts and Science, the 2005 European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the OSCE’s Journalism and Democracy Prize in 1997 and the European Commission’s Lorenzo Natali Prize in 1992.
Being effective
Many entities act on RSF’s recommendations and RSF has developed indicators in order to evaluate the impact of its work. In recent years, it has seen a marked increase in reactions from governments to the publication of the World Press Freedom Index.
As an evaluation and advocacy tool, the Index is increasingly used by such bodies as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Bank, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation in determining the allocation of development aid. Their reliance on the Index has helped to increase the attention that governments pay to freedom of information.
5 – THE RSF EMERITUS BOARD
Made up of men and women who have distinguished themselves in the field of human rights, in particular freedom of expression, the Emeritus Board will support and strengthen the work of Reporters Without Borders, bringing it new ideas and fresh vision for the future. The members of the RSF Emeritus Board are :
Robert Badinter
French lawyer, senator and former justice minister. He has promoted civil liberties (including abolition of the death penalty in France) and defended human rights on several European and international bodies.
Shirin Ebadi
Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She is one of Iran’s leading human rights defenders and has been outspoken in her opposition to violence and censorship.
Wu’er Kaixi
Chinese dissident known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989. He achieved prominence while studying at Beijing Normal University as a hunger striker who rebuked Chinese Premier Li Peng on national television.
Baltasar Garzón
Spanish judge. He helped to draw attention to dirty war crimes under Augusto Pinochet in Chile and to shed light on cases of corruption, money-laundering and embezzlement at the international level.
Adam Michnik
Polish journalist, essayist and historian. He was a leading member of the democratic opposition in Poland until 1989. Now editor of the daily newspaperGazeta Wyborcza, he is one of the key figures of the cultural, social and political fight for freedoms.
Michèle Montas
Haitian journalist. She opposed and resisted violence against journalists and censorship in Haiti and was UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon’s spokesperson.
Taslima Nasreen
A former Bangladeshi doctor and now author. Her books condemn violations of fundamental rights, including women’s rights. Her writing reflects a fight against censorship of which she has been a victim.
Ghassan Salamé
A Lebanese political scientist, academic and former culture minister. He was special adviser to former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. A specialist in political and cultural dynamics in the Middle East, he has also been president of the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie.
Eugenio Scalfari
A political and investigative journalist and former Italian parliamentarian. He helped to found and develop the Italian daily La Repubblica and often wrote for the news magazine L’Espresso, which he edited. His work has helped to combat political censorship and diversity the Italian media.
Roberto Saviano
Italian journalist and writer. After the release of his bestseller Gomorra in 2006, in which he describes criminal activities of the Camorra in Naples, Saviano lives in a secret place to avoid reprisals.
Josep Borrell Fontelles
Spanish catalan politician. As the president of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007, he fought for integration and cooperation between European countries.
Zlatko Dizdarevic
Bosnian journalist. He was editor in chief of Oslobodenje, independent daily in Sarajevo. Former director of the weekly Svijet, he was also ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia.
Michaelle Jean
Of reknown for the diversity of her political, journalistic, diplomatic and cultural career, Michaelle Jean serves as the Secretary-General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and had previously served as special representative for Haiti at UNESCO.
Horacio Verbitsky
Argentine journalist, director of Página/12, presidente of the Center for Legal and Social Studies. He campaigns for freedom of information and his investigations helped to dig up massive political corruption scandals.
Alpha Oumar Konaré
Former president of Mali, (from 1992 to 2002) and former president of the Commission of the African Union (from 2003 to 2008), Alpha Oumar Konaré is a political figure resolutely committed to defence of democracy and fully involved in promotion of press freedom in Mali. In the 1980’s, he founded and ran the cultural magazine Jamana, and the daily Les Echos, before he creates in 1991, Radio Bamakan, the first independent radio in Mali.
Wole Soyinka
Nigerian writer, Nobel Prize laureate in literature and the first African to be awarded this distinction in 1986, Wole Soyinka is involved in Nigeria’s politics to fight corruption and promote Human Rights. He is president of the African Community of Culture. In Lagos, a center for investigative journalism bears his name in recognition of his fight for journalism and freedom of speech.
6 – THE RSF EAST-ASIA BUREAU: A STRATEGIC PLATFORM
The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, also known under its French name Reporters sans frontières (RSF), has recently opened its first Asia bureau in Taipei. RSF is an international non-profit organization that holds a consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. More than 30 years after its creation, it is comprised of headquarters in Paris, 11 offices (Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Tunis, Vienna and Washington D.C.) and correspondents in 130 countries.
The new bureau in Taipei will focus on the east Asian territories including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia. “The opening of an East Asia office corresponds to the ongoing international expansion of our association and aims to better address the new challenges of media freedoms in this increasingly influential region of the world, explains RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire. The choice of Taiwan was made not only with regards to its central geographic location and ease of operating logistics, but also considering its status of being the freest place in Asia in our annual Press Freedom Index ranking.”
As a leading defender of the freedom of information, RSF alternates public interventions and effective behind the scenes action. The Taipei bureau will serve as a strategic platform for exercising influence and action on the multiple fronts in which RSF is engaged: advocacy on behalf of press rights; awareness building in support of specific campaigns, missions and actions; assistance, grants and legal aid to journalists; and capacity building for journalists and local partner organizations (e.g. education and training on cyber-security).
RSF announces the appointment of Cedric Alviani to serve as the Taipei bureau Director, under the supervision of the Paris headquarters. Cedric Alviani is a French national and graduate from the CUEJ journalism school in Strasbourg. He has lived in Asia over the past 18 years, initially recruited to serve as an audio-visual specialist at the French Embassy in Thailand. In 2000, Cedric relocated to Taiwan to serve as Cooperation Officer for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2005, Cedric founded the Taiwan European Film Festival (TEFF) and from 2010 to 2012, served as General Manager of the France Taiwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFT).
“Cedric brings to the organization a diverse and well-rounded management skill set that will serve the organization in its Asian development ambitions,” says Ronny Rubin, responsible for RSF’s International Development, adding that “Cedric’s entrepreneurial skills, management experience and regional insights represent real assets to the organization.”
RSF efforts in the region will be further boosted thanks to the deep and long-running support of Taiwan-based activist Wu’er Kaixi, a prominent advocate of human rights and defender of media freedoms, who will assist the Asia bureau in its international strategic development. The organization is grateful to him for all the ground work he has laid. Wu’er Kaixi, of Chinese origin, is also a member of the RSF Emeritus Board, along with other renowned figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Prize laureate in literature Wole Soyinka, current Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Michaelle Jean and prominent journalists, writers and freedom fighters such as Adam Michnik, Taslima Nasreen and Roberto Saviano.
7 – East-Asia in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index
TAIWAN (45th)
Media independence on hold
Taiwan still holds the status of being the freest place in the whole Asia. However, the situation is far from being perfect. The main threat to media freedom comes from China, which has been exerting growing economic and political pressure on the Taiwanese media. The editorial line of some privately-owned media has changed radically and it is no longer rare to find media outlets taking a line similar to the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda. Journalistic independence has also been threatened by Taiwanese officials who have interfered directly in the editorial policies of the state-owned media.
- Ranking: 45th/180
- Evolution: +6 (51st in 2016)
- Score: 24.37 (+0)
SOUTH KOREA (63rd)
Polarization and self-censorship
Relations were very tense between the media and the authorities under President Park Geun-hye. The government displayed a growing inability to tolerate criticism, and its meddling in the already polarized media threatened their independence. A defamation law providing for sentences of up to seven years in prison continues to be the main reason for self-censorship in the media. Nonetheless, the series of political scandals in 2016 that led to President Park’s impeachment and removal showed that the media are still able to cover politics effectively and to criticize the country’s institutions when they believe they no longer serve the general interest. The public debate about relations with North Korea, one of the main national issues, is hampered by a national security law under which any article or broadcast “favourable” to North Korea is punishable by imprisonment. This is one of the main grounds for online censorship.
- Ranking: 63rd/180
- Evolution: +7 (70th in 2016)
- Score: 27.61 (+0.97)
MONGOLIA (69th)
Defamation proceedings and self-censorship
The state media’s transformation from government mouthpieces into public services in recent years and the creation of a Media Council in February 2015 have improved the environment for the media, which are diverse but very politicized. The fact that media ownership is very concentrated and most media are affiliated to political parties inhibits the emergence of independent media. Whether state or privately-owned, the media are under pressure from politicians and their ability to act as watchdogs is limited by the government’s lack of transparency and its susceptibility to criticism. Media legislation is still imperfect and criminalizes defamation. More than half of the civil and criminal defamation proceedings target media outlets. This accentuates the self-censorship resulting from the close links between media owners and politicians.
- Ranking: 69th/180
- Evolution: -9 (60th in 2016)
- Score: 28.95 (-1.34)
JAPAN
The threat from Shinzo Abe
Media freedom in Japan has been declining ever since Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister again in 2012. What with controversial dismissals and resignations, growing self-censorship within the leading media groups and a system of “kisha clubs” (reporters’ clubs) that discriminate against freelancers and foreign reporters, journalists have difficulty serving the public interest and fulfilling their role as democracy’s watchdogs. Many journalists, both local and foreign, are harassed by government officials, who do not hide their hostility towards the media. Members of nationalist groups on social media also intimidate and harass journalists who dare to question the government or tackle “controversial” subjects. Despite UN protests, the government continues to refuse any debate about a law protecting “Specially Designated Secrets,” under which whistleblowers, journalists, and bloggers face up to ten years in prison if convicted of publishing information obtained “illegally.”
- Ranking: 72nd/180
- Evolution: +0 (72nd in 2016)
- Score: 29.44 (-0.77)
HONG KONG
Beginning of the end of “one country, two systems”?
Despite repeated warnings by media freedom organizations, the erosion of Hong Kong’s media independence vis-à-vis Beijing is now under way. The media are finding it more and more difficult to cover sensitive stories about the Hong Kong government and Mainland China, and the need to protect their editorial positions from Beijing’s influence is increasingly noticeable. The purchase of Hong Kong media by Chinese Internet companies such as the Internet giant Alibaba is extremely disturbing. The most outspoken journalists, such as those working for the Apple Daily newspaper, are exposed to violence by the Chinese Communist Party’s henchmen.
- Ranking: 73rd/180
- Evolution: -4 (69th in 2016)
- Score: 29.46 (-0.96)
CHINA (176th/180)
World’s leading prison for citizen journalists
The planet’s leading censor and press freedom predator, Chinese President Xi Jinping, is the instigator of policies aimed at complete hegemony over news coverage and the creation of an international media order heavily influenced by China. In 2015 and 2016, many citizen journalists, bloggers, and human rights activists, including foreign ones, were arrested and forced into confession. In violation of the “fundamental right to due process,” these confessions were broadcast by the state TV news broadcaster, CCTV, and were reported by the state-owned New China news agency. More that 100 journalists and bloggers are currently detained. They include the well-known journalist Gao Yu and three RSF Press Freedom laureates: Lu Yuyu, Li Tingyu and Huang Qi, the founder of the independent news website 64Tianwang.
- Ranking: 176th/180
- Evolution: +0 (176th in 2016)
- Score: 77.66 (+3.30)
NORTH KOREA (180th/180)
North Korea, the Black Hole of Information
North Korea ranks last in the 2017 RSF Press Freedom Index (down 1 at 180th). Headed by Kim Jong-un since 2012, Pyongyang’s totalitarian regime continues to keep its population in a state of ignorance and terror. Listening to a radio station based outside the country can lead straight to a concentration camp. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the sole source of official news for the print and broadcast media. Officially, the authorities show more flexibility towards the foreign media. More foreign reporters have been allowed to cover official events and, in September 2016, Agence France-Presse (AFP) was even able to open a bureau in Pyongyang, in partnership with KCNA, as did Associated Press (AP) in 2012. These developments might give the impression of more openness, but in fact there is no desire for real change. In reality, the information available to the foreign media is still meticulously controlled, as shows the expulsion in may of journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.
- Ranking: 180th/180
- Evolution: -1 (179th in 2016)
- Score: 84.98 (-1.22)
8 – The World Press Freedom Index Methodology
What is it?
Published ever year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders, the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states. Because it is well known, its influence over governments is growing. Many heads of state and government fear its annual publication. The Index is a point of reference that is quoted by media throughout the world and is used by diplomats and international entities such as the United Nations and World Bank.
What does it measure?
The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of the pluralism, the independence of the media, the quality of the legislative framework and the safety of journalists in each country. It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of the journalism in each country.
The global indicator and regional indicators
Along with the Index, RSF calculates a global indicator and regional indicators that evaluate the overall performance of all countries (in the world and in each region) as regards media freedom. It is an absolute measure that complements the Index’s comparative rankings. The global indicator is the average of the regional indicators, each of which is obtained by averaging the scores of all the countries in the region, weighted according to their population as given by the World Bank.
How the index is compiled
The degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated. The criteria evaluated in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
The questionnaire
To compile the Index, RSF has developed an online questionnaire with 87 questions focused on these criteria. Translated into 20 languages including English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian and Korean, the questionnaire is targeted at the media professionals, lawyers and sociologists who are asked to complete it. Scores are calculated on the basis of the responses of the experts selected by RSF combined with the data on abuses and violence against journalists during the period evaluated.
The data on abuses
A team of specialists, each assigned to a different geographical region, keeps a detailed tally of abuses and violence against journalists and media outlets. These reasearchers also rely on a network of correspondents in 130 countries. The Abuses indicator for each country is calculated on the basis of the data about the intensity of abuses and violence against media actors during the period evaluated. This quantitative indicator is then used to weight the qualitative analysis of the situation in the country based on the replies to the questionnaires.
The press freedom map
The press freedom map, which is distributed in print and digital versions, offers a visual overview of the situation in each country in the index. The colour categories are assigned as follows: good (white), fairly good (yellow), problematic (orange), bad (red) and very bad (black).
DETAILED METHODOLOGY
Criteria categories and indicators
The questionnaire focuses on such criteria categories as the country’s performance as regards pluralism, media independence and respect for the safety and freedom of journalists. Each question in the questionnaire is linked to one of the seven following indicators. Each indicator is given a score between 0 and 100.
1 / Pluralism [indicator scorePlur]
Measures the degree to which opinions are represented in the media.
2 / Media independence [indicator scoreInd]
Measures the degree to which the media are able to function independently of sources of political, governmental, business and religious power and influence.
3/ Environment and self-censorship [indicator scoreEA]
Analyses the environment in which news and information providers operate.
4/ Legislative framework [indicator scoreCL]
Measures the impact of the legislative framework governing news and information activities.
5/ Transparency [indicator scoreTra]
Measures the transparency of the institutions and procedures that affect the production of news and information.
6 / Infrastructure [indicator scoreInf]
Measures the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
7/ Abuses [indicator scoreExa]
A seventh indicator based on data gathered about abuses and acts of violence against journalists and media during the period evaluated is also factored into the calculation. Measures the level of abuses and violence.
How the scores are calculated
Ever since the 2013 index, countries have been given scores ranging from 0 to 100, with 0 being the best possible score and 100 the worst. This makes the index more informative and makes it easier to compare one year with another.
Reporters Without Borders calculates two scores. The first, ScoA, is based on the first six of the seven indicators listed above. The second, ScoB, combines the first six indicators with the seventh (abuses). A country’s final score is the greater of these two scores. This method prevents an inappropriately low score (high ranking) being given to a country where few or no acts of violence against journalists take place because the provision of news and information is so tightly controlled.
The formulas
How the two scores are calculated:
How the abuses score is calculated:
The longer that journalists (professional and non-professional) are imprisoned, the more their imprisonment penalizes the country concerned.
The weighting coefficient therefore has the following values, based on the length of imprisonment in years:
Press freedom map
The press freedom map offers a visual overview of the scores of all the countries in the index. The colour categories are assigned as follows:
From 0 to 15 points: Good (white)
From 15.01 to 25 points: Fairly good (yellow)
From 25.01 to 35 points: Problematic (orange)
From 35.01 to 55 points: Bad (red)
From 55.01 to 100 points: Very bad (black)
Thursday July 13, 2017
RSF accuses China of “murder by lack of care” in Liu Xiaobo’s death
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is deeply saddened by the news of the death of Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, who was the 2010 Nobel peace laureate and 2004 RSF press freedom laureate. RSF holds the Chinese authorities responsible and urges them to end the house arrest of his wife, Liu Xia.
The embodiment of resistance to oppression and the fight for free speech in China, Liu Xiaobo died today, less than three weeks after the announcement that he had been moved from a prison in the northeastern province of Liaoning to a nearby hospital with final-stage liver cancer. He had been imprisoned since 2008.
The Chinese authorities refused to allow him to leave the country to receive medical care abroad, although an international campaign had been urging this. On paper, he had been “released on medical parole” but in practice he was isolated in the hospital and subjected to the strictest surveillance.
“It is outrageous that the Chinese authorities waited until Liu Xiaobo’s cancer was in the terminal stage before treating him in hospital,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.
“It is hard believe the Chinese prison authorities were so incompetent as to not notice a cancer developing in such a high-profile detainee as Liu Xiaobo. As well as arbitrary imprisonment, the Chinese leaders and their accomplices are guilty of murder by lack of care. We call for the immediate release of Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, whose house arrest is clearly detention by another name.”
Responsibility of the Chinese state apparatus
RSF accuses firstly at Hu Jintao, who was president when Liu Xiaobo was arrested and tried, and his successor, the current president, Xi Jinping, a predator of press freedom. Other senior Chinese leaders must also be held responsible: Prime Minister Li Keqiang and his predecessor Wen Jiabao; Wu Aiying, who was justice minister at the time, and his successor, Zhang Jun; and the other members of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party: Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.
By allowing Liu Xiaobo and thousands of other human rights defenders to be imprisoned, these leaders constantly trample on the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which explicitly guarantees free speech and media freedom. They are supposed to implement this constitution at the highest level.
But pointing the finger at the most senior leaders is not enough. We must not forget the “foot soldiers” in the Chinese repressive apparatus who were accomplices: Jia Lianchun, the president of Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, his assessors Zheng Wenwei and Zhai Changxi, and the prosecutors Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing, who were all happy to convict Liu Xiaobo in a trial lasting just two hours.
The following officials must also held responsible for mistreating Liu Xiaobo and denying him medical care: Chen Qiufa, the governor of Liaoning province; Li Xi, the secretary of the Liaoning provincial committee of the Communist Party; Ma Zhenfeng, the former director of Jinzhou prison, in Liaoning province, where Liu Xiaobo, was held; and Wang Zhansuo, his successor.
China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998 but took care never to ratify it. Harassment and acts of violence against civil rights activists and citizen-journalists have increased since 2013, when Xi Jinping took over as president.
“The authorities at least pretended to be trying to improve the human rights situation in previous decades,” said Cédric Alviani, the head of RSF’s East Asia bureau. “But Xi Jinping’s administration has brazenly rehabilitated practices worthy of the Maoist era – abduction, holding detainees incommunicado and without trial, systematic torture and mistreatment, and televised forced confessions.”
Ranked near the bottom of RSF’s World Press Freedom Index (176th out of 180 countries), China is one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists and civil rights activists.
29 June 2017
Media freedom in free fall 20 years after Hong Kong returned to China
A generation after Hong Kong was handed back to China, the level of media freedom in the former British colony has never been so low. Physical violence against journalists has declined in recent years but control of the media continues to grow despite the emergence of a few independent but fragile online media outlets.
Hong Kong will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty back to China with great pomp tomorrow, 1 July, which is also the 96th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding and the day that Hong Kong’s new chief executive, Carrie Lam, officially takes office after being elected by a small committee with Beijing’s support.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited himself to the festivities, which will include a gigantic firework show that will display the letters HK in the sky, along with “China” in simplified Mandarin characters, the official language on the mainland but little used by Hong Kong’s residents.
Twenty-six journalists representing ten Hong Kong media will not be accredited to cover these events, just as they were barred from covering Lam’s election in March, because the authorities do not recognize media that publish solely online. The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has been demanding equal treatment for online media for five years but the request curiously continues to be “under examination.”
As for journalists lucky enough to be sent accreditation, the message could not have been clearer. The accompanying document said that their personal details could be shared with all law enforcement agencies.
Mainstream media under control
This is not insignificant in the Hong Kong of 2017. In the course of 20 years of pro-Chinese rule, a sizeable proportion of the former British colony’s freedoms have been eroded although they are in theory guaranteed by its status as Special Administrative Region.
In the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders RSF), Hong Kong has fallen from 18th in 2002 (when the Index was created) to 73rd now. Amnesty International describes the human rights situation as the worst in 20 years. This is free speech and media freedom “with Chinese characteristics,” to use the Beijing newspeak that the Hong Kong residents find so hard to assimilate.
What can they expect from the traditional media? Most of the media owners have major business interests in China and more than half are members of Chinese political bodies such as the National People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference. If these media bosses want to do business on the mainland, nothing helps more than a good measure of “patriotism,” meaning self-censorship.
The Communications Authority, which is in charge of regulating Hong Kong’s media, keeps an eye out for problems from those owners who have not understood this. One of its methods is to threaten non-renewal of their outlet’s licence (see our report: “Beijing’s invisible hand on Hong Kong’s media”).
The acquisition in December 2015 of the Hong Kong English-language daily, the South China Morning Post, by Jack Ma, the executive chairman of the Chinese Internet commerce company Alibaba, dashed any remaining hope that this venerable institution, created in 1903, might still play a watchdog role.
At the start of 2016, nearly 30 of its employees including all of its international section left the newspapers and were immediately replaced by people with a reputation for being docile or pro-Beijing.
Discreeter methods replace physical violence
Fortunately, physical violence against the media has declined in the past two years, aside from a police attack on a journalist with the daily Min Pao who was covering rioting in the Mongkok district in February 2016. More than a year later, the justice system seems to be in no hurry to shed light on the case.
The violence peaked in 2014, the year of the “umbrella revolution,” in which tens of thousands of protesters demanding more democracy staged a street sit-in that went on for more than two months. On the 79th day, police broke up the protest using teargas, leaving many people injured including journalists covering the event.
2014 began with a knife attack on Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau and continued with intermittent acts of violence against media outlets, especially the Next Media group, which had to cope in turn with the blocking of its printing press, two Molotov Cocktail attacks and a large-scale cyber-attack. But in the end these spectacular acts just increased public hostility towards the Hong Kong government and Beijing.
Journalists harassed, fired
Since then, the government seems to have preferred discreeter methods of harassing and silencing independent journalists and media. The leading daily Mingpao suddenly fired its editor, Keung Kwok-yuen, on economic grounds on 20 April 2016, hours after he ran a story focusing on well-known local politicians and businessmen who had been named in the “Panama Papers” investigation.
Despite a wave of protests, Keung was not reinstated and he joins the long list of journalists whose outspoken reporting has led to their dismissal, a practice that has unfortunately become common in Hong Kong.
The Chinese-language Sing Pao Daily News is known for its pro-Beijing line but its chairman, Chinese businessman Gu Zhuoheng, paid the price when the newspaper ran a series of editorials in 2016 criticizing Hong Kong’s chief executive and his links in China. The Chinese police issued a warrant for Gu’s arrest for alleged financial fraud, forcing him to flee abroad. In February of this year, a cyber-attack blocked the newspaper’s website for a day.
A new generation of media online
With the traditional media failing to do their job, the public has turned to the Internet and to the handful of independent online newspapers that have emerged in the past two years or so. Professional-looking although run on a shoestring, they have added to the independently-reported online local news coverage that the veteran inMedia has been providing since 2004. The new outlets include HK01, The Initium, Post852, Stand News, Hong Kong Free Press and Citizen News.
Funded by reader donations, the non-profit Stand News was the first of the new generation news sites to have kept going. Businessman Tony Tsoi launched it in January 2015, a few months after being forced to close an earlier site, House News, in the wake of being kidnapped and threatened by the security services during a visit to China.
The English-language Hong Kong Free Press was next. Two freelance journalists created it in the summer of 2015 after a crowdfunding campaign gathered four times the anticipated amount. After operating for two years, it claims to have published 8,500 stories, to have had 500,000 unique visitors and to have 1 million pageviews a month. This is a significant readership in a territory with 7.3 million inhabitants, 95% of them Chinese-speaking.
The Chinese-language subscription site Citizen News appeared in January of this year. It was founded by a dozen media veterans including Kevin Lau, who used his convalescence to help develop the project, and Daisy Li, a famous journalist who received the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists in 1994.
However, the prospects of these new online media outlets are uncertain. They are barred from covering official events, they are using non-commercial economic models whose viability has yet to be demonstrated, they are exposed to the possibility of cyber-attacks and it is very difficult if not impossible for them to cover Mainland China.
Furthermore, they are also exposed to the possibility of being subjected to the same brutal methods that were used to rein in Hong Kong’s independent publishing sector.
Kidnapped publishers
Although two years have gone by, no one has forgotten the abduction in 2015 of five members of the staff of a Hong Kong-based publishing house specializing in sensationalist books about senior Chinese leaders. They subsequently appeared on Chinese TV, escorted by police officers and forced to confess their “crimes.”
Another publisher, Yiu Mantin, had previously been sentenced to ten years in prison on the mainland in 2014 as he was about to publish a book in Hong Kong with a suggestive title: “Xi Jinping, China’s godfather”.
In Hong Kong nowadays, you think twice about publishing revelations about Beijing’s leaders, especially as one of the publishers, British citizen Lee Bo, was kidnapped in Hong Kong itself and another, Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen kidnapped in Thailand, is still held in China.
These two cases serve as a constant reminder to Hong Kong’s inhabitants that nothing – no passport and no border – gives them complete protection from China’s intelligence services. They constitute a permanent threat, especially as Beijing has turned the abduction and torture of human rights activists into one of the trademarks of its authoritarian methods in recent years.
June 2nd, 2017
China: still world’s biggest prison for journalists and citizen-journalists
Twenty-eight years after the ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989, China’s prisons currently hold more than 100 journalists, citizen-journalists and bloggers, including a Nobel peace laureate and three winners of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF)-TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize.
Although the famous video of the Tank Man, an icon of the “Chinese Spring,” is now 28 years old, it has yet to be broadcast on Chinese TV. Nearly three decades after a crackdown that almost certainly left more than 1,000 dead, the Chinese regime continues to keep a tight lid on free speech and the freedom to inform.
Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo and RSF-TV5 Monde laureates Huang Qi, Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu are among those currently in prison in China, which is ranked 176th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index, surpassed only by Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea in authoritarianism.
Nobel laureate behind bars
A writer and human rights activist, Liu Xiaobo was one of the leaders of the Tiananmen demonstrations, during which he went on hunger strike. He is now the world’s only Nobel peace laureate to be in prison. To the international community’s apparent indifference, he has been serving an 11-year jail term since 2009 for voicing a desire for democracy in an online manifesto called “Charter 08.”
Liu previously spent more than 18 months in detention and another three years doing forced labour. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since October 2010 and is constantly harassed by the authorities although she has not been convicted by any court.
“The constitution of the People’s Republic of China clearly states that its citizens enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of the press, that every citizen has the right to criticize Party officials and to expose their misdeeds, and that no one has the right to suppress this kind of information,” said Cédric Alviani, the director of RSF’s newly opened East Asia bureau in Taipei.
“Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of all imprisoned journalists, citizen-journalists and bloggers, and calls on the international community to maintain the pressure on Beijing.”
Website founders behind bars
Huang Qi created 64tianwang, the first Chinese website to document human right violations in China. The figure 64 refers to the 4 June, the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Huang, who was awarded RSF’s Press Freedom Prize in the “Cyber-Dissident” category in 2004, has been in prison since last autumn. He was previously detained from 2000 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2012 because of what he published about the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Huang was arrested by the police in October 2016, at the same time as Liu Feiyue, the founder of the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website.
A few weeks before their arrests, police abducted five women citizen-journalists working for 64tianwang during the G20 summit. And in April of last year, Wang Jing, a woman freelance journalist who did reporting for 64tianwang, was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison on a charge of “picking quarrels and causing trouble.”
Denied treatment abroad
Gao Yu, 73, a well-known journalist who was Deutsche Welle’s correspondent, is still under house arrest. Awarded the Plume d’Or de la Liberté in 1995 and UNESCO’s Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 1997, she was arrested in April 2014 for sending supposedly confidential documents to a foreign media outlet. She reappeared two weeks later on state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) in the process of “confessing her crimes” to a police officer, a practice that harks back to Mao Zedong’s China.
At her trial in November 2014, at which she received at five-year jail term, Gao revealed that the police had threatened reprisals against her son if she did not confess. Because of serious health problems, she has been allowed to serve her sentence at home but not to seek medical attention abroad. The authorities continue to subject her and her family to constant harassment.
Bloggers increasingly targeted
China has seen a marked decline in respect for freedoms since Xi Jinping took over as president in late 2012, with the result that Xi has been added to RSF’s lists of “press freedom predators” and “enemies of the Internet.” Professional journalists are now formally required to “guide public opinion” following the “official party line.” This has increased the importance of online citizen-journalists and bloggers, and the resulting level of harassment to which they are subjected.
Hu Jia, a blogger who was jailed from 2007 to 2011 and was awarded the Sakharov Prize in 2008, has been one of the victims of the increased persecution. Although subject to constant police surveillance, he was badly beaten by unidentified men as he returned home on 16 July 2014.
He said at the time he thought the attack was prompted by an online campaign to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. His health, already badly affected by his years in prison, is now much worse because he suffering from liver cirrhosis and is currently in a critical condition in Beijing hospital.
Gagging “citizen-journalism”
In another example of the increased persecution, citizen-journalists Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu were abducted by the police in June 2016 while documenting worker protests. The latest case is that of Wu Bin, a blogger known for his comments on Twitter who was finally arrested in the southern city of Shenzhen after years of harassment by the authorities.
Things are unlikely to improve any time soon. A new regulation that took effect on 1 June threatens the very existence of citizen-journalism by imposing prior registration as a requirement for anyone posting content online. The new rule, which could in theory apply to any online comment or video, is designed to intimidate China’s online citizen-journalists and will probably persuade them to censor themselves even more.
April 26th, 2017
East Asia: Global Recession of Press Freedom
and Increased Pressure from China
The East Asian area reflects the situation that prevails on a global level in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index: strongmen on the rise and increasingly frequent attacks on the media. As a way to better address these challenges, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has recently opened its first bureau in Asia.
In the 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Asia-Pacific region is the third worst violator overall but holds many of the worst kinds of records. Two of its countries, China (176th) and Vietnam (175th), are among the world’s biggest prisons for journalists and bloggers. Asia features some of the most dangerous countries for journalists: Pakistan (139th), Philippines (127th) and Bangladesh (146th).
Asia also has the 2nd biggest number of “press freedom predators” at the head of the world’s worst dictatorships, including Laos (170th), China and North Korea (180th). As China’s economic and political powers increases in the world, the Chinese authorities are increasingly lobbying and pressuring for governments and companies to embrace their vision of a total control of media and information.
RSF Opens its First Asia Bureau
As a way to better address the challenges of media freedoms in the area, Reporters Without Borders has recently opened its first bureau in Asia. The bureau, which is based in Taipei, focuses on East Asia including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia. In this area, the situation reflects the global situation that prevails in the 2017 RSF World Press Freedom Index: a world in which strongmen are on the rise and attacks on the media have become commonplace, even in democracies.
The seven territories covered by the Taipei bureau reflect the situation that prevails on a global level: strongmen on the rise and increasingly frequent attacks on the media. “Even in old democracies like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, media freedom shall never be taken for granted, as political and financial powers will always try to interfere if they get a chance, says Taipei Bureau Director Cédric Alviani. However, improvements are not impossible, as show the good results achieved in the past years by Mongolia which ranks second after Taiwan in the area.”
China and North Korea, press freedom predators
This year, China still ranks as low as 176th on the 180-country index. The planet’s leading censor and press freedom predator, Chinese President Xi Jinping, is the instigator of policies aimed at creating an international media order heavily influenced by China. In the past years, many citizen journalists, bloggers and human rights activists, including foreigners, were arrested and forced into confession. More that 100 journalists and bloggers are currently detained, include well-known journalist Gao Yu and three RSF Press Freedom laureates.
Regarding North Korea, it goes this year to the very bottom of the index : down 1 at 180th. Dictator Kim Jong-un continues to keep its population in a state of ignorance and terror. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the sole source of news for the print and broadcast media and listening to a foreign radio can lead to a concentration camp. Officially, the Pyongyang regime shows more flexibility towards the foreign media, which has led to the recent opening of an Agence France-Presse (AFP) bureau. In reality, the information available is still meticulously controlled, as shows the expulsion last year of journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.
Taiwan, Mongolia and Korea on top of the list
On the brighter side, Taiwan still holds the status of being the freest place in the whole Asia with a global ranking of 45th. However, this year’s jump (+6) does not reflect real improvements, but rather a global worsening of the situation in the rest of the world. The main threat to Taiwan comes from China, which has been exerting growing economic and political pressure. It is no longer rare to find media outlets taking a line similar to the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda. Journalistic independence has also been threatened by government officials directly interfering in the editorial policies of the state-owned media.
Mongolia, a democracy since 1990, comes second in the East Asia area with a ranking of 60th. The state media’s transformation from government mouthpieces into public services in recent years and the creation of a Media Council in 2015 have improved the environment. However, Mongolian media remain very politicized and concentrated, which leads journalists to self-censorship. Media legislation still criminalizes defamation: more than half of defamation proceedings target media outlets.
South Korea ranks 63rd (+7). Like most democracies, South Korea is marked by an increasing polarisation of the media and a strong tendency to auto-censorship. Nonetheless, the series of political scandals in 2016 that led to President Park’s impeachment and removal showed that the media are still able to cover politics independently. However, the public debate about relations with North Korea, one of the main national issues, is hampered by a national security law under which any article or broadcast “favourable” to North Korea is punishable by imprisonment.
Freedom declines in Japan and Hong Kong
In Japan, media freedom has been declining ever since Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister again in 2012, and the country now ranks 72nd on the World Index. Controversial dismissals and resignations, intimidation and harassment, self-censorship, discrimination against freelancers and foreign reporters: journalists in Japan find it harder and harder to fulfilling their role as democracy’s watchdogs. Despite UN protests, the government still refuse any debate about a law protecting “Specially Designated Secrets,” under which whistleblowers, journalists, and bloggers face up to ten years in prison.”
Last, in Hong Kong as well, the erosion of media independence vis-à-vis Beijing is now under way as Hong Kong ranks 73rd on the list (-4). The media encounter increasing difficulties to cover sensitive stories about the local government or Mainland China. The purchase of Hong Kong media by Chinese Internet companies such as the Internet giant Alibaba is extremely disturbing. The most outspoken journalists, such as those working for Apple Daily news, are exposed to violence by the Chinese Communist Party’s henchmen.
April 26th, 2017
2017 World Press Freedom Index – tipping point?
The 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reflects a world in which attacks on the media have become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise. We have reached the age of post-truth, propaganda, and suppression of freedoms – especially in democracies.
Democracies falling, advent of strongmen
RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index highlights the danger of a tipping point in the state of media freedom, especially in leading democratic countries. (Read our analysis entitled Journalism weakened by democracy’s erosion.) Democracies began falling in the Index in preceding years and now, more than ever, nothing seems to be checking that fall.
The obsession with surveillance and violations of the right to the confidentiality of sources have contributed to the continuing decline of many countries previously regarded as virtuous. This includes the United States (down 2 places at 43rd), the United Kingdom (down 2 at 40th), Chile (down 2 at 33rd), and New Zealand (down 8 at 13th).
Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States and the Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom were marked by high-profile media bashing, a highly toxic anti-media discourse that drove the world into a new era of post-truth, disinformation, and fake news.
Media freedom has retreated wherever the authoritarian strongman model has triumphed. Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Poland (54th) lost seven places in the 2017 Index. After turning public radio and TV stations into propaganda tools, the Polish government set about trying to financially throttle independent newspapers that were opposed to its reforms.
Viktor Orbán’s Hungary (71st) has fallen four places. John Magufuli’s Tanzania (83rd) has fallen 12. After the failed coup against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey (down 4 at 155th) swung over into the authoritarian regime camp and now distinguishes itself as the world’s biggest prison for media professionals. Vladimir Putin’s Russia remains firmly entrenched in the bottom fifth of the Index at 148th.
“The rate at which democracies are approaching the tipping point is alarming for all those who understand that, if media freedom is not secure, then none of the other freedoms can be guaranteed,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Where will this downward spiral take us?”
Norway first, North Korea last
In the emerging new world of media control, even the top-ranked Nordic countries are slipping down the Index. After six years at the top, Finland (down 2 at 3rd) has surrendered its No. 1 position due to political pressure and conflicts of interests. The top spot has been taken by Norway (up 2 at 1st), which is not a European Union member. This is a blow for the European model. Sweden has risen six places to take 2nd position. Journalists continue to be threatened in Sweden but the authorities sent a positive signal in the past year by convicting several of those responsible. The cooperation between the police and certain media outlets and journalists’ unions was also seen as a step forward in combatting the threats.
At the other end of the Index, Eritrea (179th) has surrendered last place to North Korea for the first time since 2007, after allowing closely-monitored foreign media crews into the country. North Korea (180th) continues to keep its population in ignorance and terror – even listening to a foreign radio broadcast can lead to a spell in a concentration camp. The Index’s bottom five also include Turkmenistan (178th), one of the world’s most repressive and self-isolated dictatorships, which keeps increasing its persecution of journalists, and Syria (177th), riven by a never-ending war and still the deadliest country for journalists, who are targeted by both its ruthless dictator and Jihadi rebels. (See our analysis entitled 2017 Press Freedom Index – ever darker world map.)
Media freedom never so threatened
Media freedom has never been so threatened and RSF’s “global indicator” has never been so high (3872). This measure of the overall level of media freedom constraints and violations worldwide has risen 14% in the span of five years. In the past year, nearly two thirds (62.2%) of the countries measured* have registered a deterioration in their situation, while the number of countries where the media freedom situation was “good” or “fairly good” fell by 2.3%.
The Middle East and North Africa region, which has ongoing wars in Yemen (down 4 at 166th) as well as Syria, continues to be the world’s most difficult and dangerous region for journalists. Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the second worst region, does not lag far behind. Nearly two third of its countries are ranked below or around the 150th mark in the Index. In addition to Turkey’s downward spiral, 2016 was marked by a clampdown on independent media in Russia, while the despots in such former Soviet republics as Tajikistan (149th), Turkmenistan (178th), and Azerbaijan (162nd) perfected their systems of control and repression.
The Asia-Pacific region is the third worst violator overall but holds many of the worst kinds of records. Two of its countries, China (176th) and Vietnam (175th), are the world’s biggest prisons for journalists and bloggers. It has some of the most dangerous countries for journalists: Pakistan (139th), Philippines (127th) and Bangladesh (146th). It also has the biggest number of “press freedom predators” at the head of the world’s worst dictatorships, including China, North Korea (180th), and Laos (170th), which are news and information black holes.
Africa comes next, where the Internet is now routinely disconnected at election time and during major protests. More than five points separate then the African region from the Americas, where Cuba (down 2 at 173rd) is the only country in the black (i.e. “very bad”) zone of the Index, which is otherwise reserved for the worst dictatorships and authoritarian regimes of Asia and the Middle East.
Finally, the European Union and Balkans region continues to be the one where the media are freest, although its regional indicator (of the overall level of constraints and violations) registered the biggest increase in the past year: +3.8%. The differences in regional indicator change over the past five years are particularly noticeable. The European Union and Balkans indicator rose 17.5% over the past five years. During the same period, the Asia-Pacific indicator increased by only 0.9%.
“The seven territories we cover are a sample of all types of situations, from good to extremely bad, with unfortunately a tendency for things to get worse, says Taipei Bureau Director Cédric Alviani, emphasizing on the fact that even in democracies like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, media freedom shall never be taken for granted, as political and financial powers will always try to interfere if they get a chance. However, improvements are not impossible, Alviani says, pointing out the good results achieved in the past years by Mongolia, a democracy since 1990, which ranks second after Taiwan in the area.”
“On the lower end, the situation hasn’t improved at all in North Korea as well as China, two dictatorial regimes that remain at the very bottom of the index. As China’s economic and political powers increases in the world, the Chinese authorities are increasingly lobbying and pressuring for governments and companies to embrace their vision of media control, Alviani says, warning that there is a risk for Hong Kong, and Taiwan in a lesser measure, to be dragged down by the Chinese interventions.”
The word’s regions (in descending order of respect for media freedom)
| 2017 Index | Region | 2017 Indicator | Score change 2013-2017 |
| 6 | Middle East and North Africa | 50.53 | +4.2% |
| 5 | Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 49.24 | +8.7% |
| 4 | Asia-Pacific | 42.57 | +0.9% |
| 3 | Africa | 37.85 | +10.4% |
| 2 | Americas | 31.57 | +5.2% |
| 1 | EU and Balkans | 20.55 | +17.5% |
Rises, falls, and illusory improvements
Nicaragua (down 17 at 92nd) distinguished itself in 2017 by falling further than any other country on the Index. For the independent and opposition media, President Daniel Ortega’s controversial re-election was marked by many cases of censorship, intimidation, harassment, and arbitrary arrest. Tanzania (down 12 at 83rd), where President John “Bulldozer” Magufuli keeps tightening his grip on the media, also suffered a significant fall.
Amid all the decline, rises in two countries seem particularly promising and will hopefully continue. After ridding itself of its autocratic president, Gambia (up 2 at 143rd) has rediscovered uncensored newspapers and is planning to amend legislation that is restrictive for the media. The historic peace accord in Colombia (up 5 at 129th) has ended a 52-year armed conflict that was a source of censorship and violence against the media. No journalists were killed in 2016, making it the first time in seven years that journalists survived their work.
However, other sizeable jumps in the 2017 Index are probably deceptive. Italy (52nd) has risen 25 places after acquitting several journalists including the two Italian journalists who were tried in the VatiLeaks 2 case. But it continues to be one of the European countries where the most journalists are threatened by organized crime.
France has risen six places to 39th position but it was simply recovering from the exceptional fall it suffered in the 2016 Index because of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. It is a country where journalists struggle to defend their independence in an increasingly violent and hostile environment. Excepting the 2016 Index, France’s latest score (22.24) is its worst since 2013, a decline that is due inter alia to problems arising from businessmen using the media as a source of influence. RSF welcomed a new law on media independence but it did not suffice to significantly modify the situation.
In Asia, the Philippines (127th) rose 11 places, partly because of a fall in the number of journalists killed in 2016, but the insults and open threats against the media by President Rodrigo Duterte, another new strongman, do not bode well.
Evolution in France’s score
Published annually by RSF since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries, including the level of pluralism, media independence, and respect for the safety and freedom of journalists. The 2017 Index takes account of violations that took place between January 1st and December 31st of 2016.
The global indicator and the regional indicators are calculated based on the scores assigned to each country. The country scores are calculated from the answers to a questionnaire in 20 languages that is completed by experts throughout the world, supported by a qualitative analysis. The scores and indicators measure the level of constraints and violations, so the higher the figure, the worse the situation. Because of growing awareness of the Index, it is an extremely useful and increasingly influential advocacy tool.
* The term “country” is used in its ordinary sense, without any special political meaning or allusion to certain territories.