Press faces crackdown, freedom at 13-year low

Washington, April 28: Global press freedom has hit a 13-year low, threatened by US President Donald Trump’s media bashing and restrictions pursued by both democratic and authoritarian governments, a watchdog said on Friday.

A survey by Freedom House, a US-based human rights organisation, highlighted growing concerns over efforts by governments around the world to clamp down on media and dissent.

“Political leaders and other partisan forces in many democracies — including the United States, Poland, the Philippines, and South Africa — attacked the credibility of independent media and fact-based journalism, rejecting the traditional watchdog role of the press in free societies,” said Jennifer Dunham, who headed the research.

In the 2016 study of 199 countries, the group concluded that just 13 per cent of the world’s population enjoys a “free press” where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures.

Another 42 per cent of the world’s population has a “partly free” press and 45 percent live in countries where the media environment is “not free,” the group said.

The report echoed a similar survey released this week by France-based Reporters Without Borders, which said press freedom is facing serious threats in 72 countries, downgrading the rankings of the United States, Britain and others.

The Freedom House report said press rights are being eroded by the efforts of politicians in democratic states to shape news coverage and delegitimise media outlets. Press freedom was on a modest decline in the United States even before Mr Trump took office.