At 142, India retains press freedom rank

There’s been a “dramatic deterioration” of press freedom since the pandemic started to tear across the world, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report published on Tuesday. The group’s new World Press Freedom Index, which evaluated the press situations in 180 countries, painted a stark picture and concluded that 73% of the world’s nations have serious issues with media freedoms. Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti fared worst overall in this year’s RSF ranking. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica were ranked highest. The Middle East and North Africa region continues to be the most repressive for journalists, the report found, highlighting the worsening situation in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria over the past year. India retained its low ranking at 142, after a consecutive fall every year from 133 in 2016.