(SA) Support and respect for the autonomy of the media is declining. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) highlights this in its annual report on press freedom in the world. A growing number of governments and political authorities “are not fulfilling their role as guarantors of the best possible environment for journalism and of the public’s right to reliable, independent and diverse news and information”. Italy loses five positions compared to the previous year. In particular for the Agi case.
Norway in the lead
Among the countries where the situation has worsened, Argentina stands out under the newly elected president Javier Milei: he boasted of his attack on press freedom and closed the country’s largest agency.
Norway maintains its position at the top of the ranking, followed by Denmark and Sweden. Eritrea drops to last position, overtaking North Korea. Afghanistan and Syria are among those to have suffered significant declines, with the latter among the bottom 10 countries along with China, Iran and North Korea.
The RSF index ranks 180 countries based on the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently: in 138 countries surveyed, political actors are often involved in disinformation and propaganda, in 31 nations where this situation has become systematic.
member of the coalition
Italy loses five positions, going from 41st to 46th in the press freedom ranking. In 2023 the country had instead recorded a significant improvement, recovering 17 positions compared to the previous year. The case of the Agi news agency, about to be acquired by the Angelucci group, is cited as an example of the growing efforts of political groups to influence the national media landscape: “In Giorgia Meloni’s Italy a member of her coalition is looking to acquire the Agi news agency”.
Hungary and Poland
Eastern Europe and Central Asia find themselves in RSF’s spotlight for imitating Russian repressive methods, with Serbia serving as a springboard for the propagation of Russian propaganda. Russia has fallen in the ranking of countries attacking press freedom, with more than 1,500 Russian journalists having fled abroad since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Europe remains the only region to include countries classified as ‘good’ , although the situation in nations such as Greece raises serious concerns. Greece achieved the worst result in Europe (88th place overall), below Hungary and Poland.
The Maghreb-Middle East region is the worst-performing region in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index. Over the past year, “governments across the region have attempted to control and restrict the media through violence, arrests and draconian laws, exacerbated by systematic impunity for crimes of violence against journalists.”
