Int. Press Freedom…Guyana among lowest ranked in region; Jamaica leads

Feb 13, 2014 News

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Guyana has improved slightly on the 2014 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, to 67th, two spaces below its 2012 rankings.
The index’s annual global indicator, which measures the overall level of violations of freedom of information in 180 countries annually, has risen slightly. The indicator has gone from 3395 to 3456 points, a 1.8% rise. The level of violations is unchanged in the Asia-Pacific region, but has increased in Africa.

Faring better than Guyana in the region is Jamaica, 17; Suriname 31: Antigua 36; Trinidad 43 and Haiti 47. Guyana is better off than the Dominican Republic at 68 and neighbouring Venezuela at 116.
According to the watchdog press body, the ranking spotlights major declines in media freedoms in such varied countries as the United States, Central African Republic and Guatemala and, on the other hand, marked improvements in Ecuador, Bolivia and South Africa.
The same trio of Finland, Netherlands and Norway heads the index again, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea continue to be the biggest information black holes, again occupying the last three positions.
“The World Press Freedom Index is a reference tool that is based on seven criteria: the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure,” said Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire.
“It makes governments face their responsibilities by providing civil society with an objective measure, and provides international bodies with a good governance indicator to guide their decisions.”
Reporters Without Borders Head of Research Lucie Morillon said: “This year, the ranking of some countries, including democracies, has been impacted by an overly broad and abusive interpretation of the concept of national security protection.”
This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than in last year’s index. The newcomer is Belize, which has been ranked in the enviable position of 29th.
The 2014 index emphasizes the negative correlation between armed conflicts and freedom of information. In an unstable environment, the media become strategic goals or targets for groups or individuals trying to control news and information in violation of the guarantees enshrined in international conventions.
Syria (177th) is rubbing shoulders with the last three countries in the index. Around 130 professional and citizen-journalists were killed in connection with the provision of news and information from March 2011 to December 2013. They are being targeted by both the Assad government and extremist rebel militias. The Syrian crisis has also had dramatic repercussions throughout the region.
In Africa, Mali continued its fall and is now ranked 122. Progress in the conflict in north of the country has stalled, preventing any real revival in media activity. Central African Republic (109th) has followed suit, falling 43 places. In Egypt (159th), President Morsi’s ouster by the army led by Al-Sisi freed those media that the Muslim Brotherhood had gagged ever since coming to power, but it marked the start of a witch hunt against journalists suspected of supporting the Brotherhood.
Far from these conflicts, in countries where the rule of law prevails, security arguments are misused as grounds for restricting freedom of information. Invoked too readily, the protection of national security is encroaching on hard-won democratic rights.
In the United States (46th, -13), the hunt for leaks and whistleblowers serves as a warning to those thinking of satisfying a public interest need for information about the imperial prerogatives assumed by the world’s leading power. The United Kingdom (33rd, -3) has followed in the US wake, distinguishing itself by its harassment of The Guardian.
Aside from the 13-place fall by the United States (46th, -13), Guatemala’s dizzying plunge (125th, -29) was due to a sharp decline in the safety of journalists, with four murders and twice as many attacks as the previous year.
Violence against journalists, direct censorship and misuse of judicial proceedings fell in Panama (87th, +25), Dominican Republic (68th, +13), Bolivia (94th, +16) and Ecuador (94th, +25), although in Ecuador the level of media polarization is still high and often detrimental to public debate.
The past year was marked by laudable legislative developments in some countries such as South Africa (42nd, +11), where the president refused to sign a law that would have threatened media freedom.
Contrasting with South Africa’s improvement, other countries regarded as regional models registered no progress or even significant declines.

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