WUNRN
Freedom House
Global Freedom
of the Press Report 2014 - Media Freedom Hits Decade Low
WOMEN IN MEDIA - WOMEN IMPACTED BY
PRESS FREEDOM REGRESSION - WOMEN LIMITED IN ACCESS TO FREE,
INDEPENDENT NEWS, MEDIA
Only 1 in 7 People
Live in a Country with a 'Free' Press
May 1, 2014 - Global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, according to the latest edition of Freedom House's press freedom survey. The decline was driven in part by major regression in several Middle Eastern states, including Egypt, Libya, and Jordan; marked setbacks in Turkey, Ukraine, and a number of countries in East Africa; and deterioration in the relatively open media environment of the United States.
Freedom of the Press 2014 found that despite positive developments in a number of countries, most notably in sub-Saharan Africa, the dominant trends were reflected in setbacks in every other region.
Direct Link to Full 31-Page Report:
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PRESS FREEDOM IN
2013: Media Freedom Hits Decade Low
by Karin Deutsch Karlekar and Jennifer Dunham
Global press freedom fell to its lowest level in over a decade in 2013, as
hopes raised by the Arab Spring were further dashed by major regression in
Egypt, Libya, and Jordan, and marked setbacks also occurred in
Meanwhile, as a result of declines in democratic settings over the past several
years, the share of the world’s population that enjoys a Free press remained at
14 percent, meaning only one in seven people live in countries where coverage
of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state
intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous
legal or economic pressures.
These are the most significant findings of Freedom
of the Press 2014: A Global Survey of Media Independence, the
latest edition of an annual report published by Freedom House since 1980. While
there were positive developments in a number of countries, most notably in
sub-Saharan
The year’s declines were driven by the desire of governments—particularly in
authoritarian states or polarized political environments—to control news
content, whether through the physical harassment of journalists covering
protest movements or other sensitive news stories; restrictions on foreign
reporters; or tightened constraints on online news outlets and social media. In
addition, press freedom in a number of countries was threatened by private
owners—especially those with close connections to governments or ruling
parties—who altered editorial lines or dismissed key staff after acquiring
previously independent outlets.
These factors were behind the majority of the status
downgrades for 2013, including the shifts from Partly Free to Not Free in
Separately, influential authoritarian powers such as China and Russia continued
to maintain a tight grip on locally based print and broadcast media, while also
attempting to control the more independent views provided either in the
blogosphere or by foreign news sources. Both countries introduced additional
legal measures to penalize online speech in 2013. And while
Even more open media environments are not immune to pressure on press freedom.
The year featured the most significant decline of the past decade in one of the
world’s largest democracies, the United States, due to government attempts to
control official information flows, particularly concerning national
security–related issues; the legal harassment of journalists with regard to
protection of sources; and revelations of surveillance that included both the
bulk collection of communications data by the National Security Agency (NSA)
and the targeted wiretapping of media outlets. Disclosures that surveillance
was being conducted by a range of governments—many of them democratic—against
ordinary citizens as well as key political figures intensified concerns on a
global level about the ability of journalists and others who gather and
disseminate news and information to protect sources and maintain their digital
privacy......