Freedom of the Press 2011

Freedom of the Press 2011 SIGNS OF CHANGE AMID REPRESSION selected data from freedom house’s annual press freedom index PRESS FREEDOM IN 2010: SIGNS OF CHANGE AMID REPRESSION by Karin Deutsch Karlekar The proportion of the world’s population that findings are a vivid reminder of the central role has access to a Free press declined to its lowest that the denial of press freedom and freedom of point in over a decade during 2010, as repressive expression has played in the suppression of governments intensified their efforts to control broader democratic rights in the Middle East and traditional media and developed new techniques elsewhere. A principal complaint of the Middle to limit the independence of rapidly expanding East protesters has been the role of regime- internet-based media. Among the countries to controlled media in circulating government experience significant declines in press freedom propaganda and stifling opposition voices. were Egypt, Honduras, Hungary, Mexico, South While the fate of political reform in the region Korea, Thailand, and Ukraine. And in the remains unclear, the demands for change could Middle East, a number of governments with well have ripple effects in other parts of the long-standing records of hostility to the free world, including sub-Saharan Africa, the former flow of information took further steps to Soviet Union, and even China. constrict press freedom by arresting journalists During 2010, however, many of these and bloggers and censoring reports on sensitive positive pressures remained below the surface. political issues. These developments constitute Indeed, authoritarian efforts to place restrictions the principal findings of on the press, new media, Freedom of the Press In 2010, only 1 in 6 people lived in and other instruments of 2011: A Global Survey of countries with a Free press. expression gained mo- Media Independence, the mentum in a number of latest edition of an annual index published by strategically important countries, such as China, Freedom House since 1980. Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. These states were The report found that only 15 percent of the also notable for their attempts to restrict media global population—one in six people—live in freedom and influence the news agenda beyond countries where coverage of political news is their borders. Meanwhile, media in new and robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, aspiring democracies proved vulnerable to a state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and combination of hostile forces, including political the press is not subject to onerous legal or leaders determined to mute critics, powerful economic pressures. At the same time, the global business interests, drug traffickers, and armed media environment, which has experienced a insurgents or terrorists. Among the countries that pattern of deterioration for the past eight years, experienced press freedom declines because of showed some signs of stabilizing. For example, these forces were Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, the declines in the Middle East and in crucial Fiji, Iraq, Turkey, Ukraine, and Yemen. countries like Mexico and Thailand were Backsliding was also seen in relatively open partially offset by gains in sub-Saharan Africa press environments, with South Korea falling and portions of the former Soviet Union. into the Partly Free range and Hungary Prospects for a reversal of the negative experiencing significant setbacks. trend were enhanced by the protest movements The year’s most impressive gains were that emerged across the Middle East in the early brought about through major legal and months of 2011. While this report assesses regulatory reforms and a greater official developments in 2010—and thus does not take willingness to allow media freedom and into account the potentially dramatic changes in diversity in Guinea, Moldova, and Niger. Tunisia, Egypt, and other Arab countries—its Smaller improvements were noted in Colombia, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 2011 Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as a number of more aggressively to control the news countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including agenda; no longer satisfied with silencing Kenya, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. the media, they have demanded specific coverage that suits their interests. Somewhat Key Trends in 2010 less intense pressure by drug trafficking groups drove continued declines in Guinea- • Misuse of licensing and regulatory Bissau, another burgeoning narcostate. frameworks has emerged as a key method of control in a number of semidemocratic • Worsening violence against the press and and authoritarian settings. Authoritarian impunity for such crimes are forcing regimes have increasingly used bogus journalists into self-censorship or exile. legalistic maneuvers to narrow the space for The level of violence and physical independent broadcasting, effectively harassment directed at the press by both countering an earlier trend of growth in the official and nonstate actors remains a key number of private radio and television concern in a number of countries. In media outlets. In Russia, Venezuela, and a range of environments ranging from conflict zones to other countries, denial or suspension of struggling democracies with a weak rule of broadcast licenses or closure of outlets on law, the press is facing increased spurious grounds are preferred methods for intimidation or outright attacks. According suppressing unwelcome views. to the Committee to Protect Journalists, some of the deadliest countries for • Control over new means of news journalists in 2010 were Honduras, dissemination, particularly internet-based Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, and Pakistan. social media, has become a priority for These attacks have a chilling effect on the authoritarian governments. As media profession, encouraging self-censorship or delivery systems have expanded from exile, and the failure to punish or even traditional print formats and terrestrial seriously investigate crimes against broadcasting to satellite television, the journalists has reached scandalous internet, and mobile telephones, proportions. authoritarian governments have intensified efforts to exert control over the new means • Threats to media freedom remain a of communication as well as the news concern in established democracies. outlets that employ them. Blocking of Various pressures impinge on press freedom satellite television transmissions was noted in democratic countries as diverse as India, in Egypt and Iran, while the social- Israel, Italy, and South Africa. Increased networking website Facebook was blocked censorship and attempts to exert official briefly in Pakistan and remained unavailable influence over the management of broadcast in China, Syria, and Vietnam. Some outlets led to a decline in South Korea’s democratic and semidemocratic states also status, from Free to Partly Free. In Hungary, moved to implement additional controls the conservative government of Prime over the internet, including South Korea and Minister Viktor Orbán pushed restrictive Thailand, which increased censorship of legislation through the parliament and seized online content. control over media regulators and public broadcasters. • The role of nonstate forces in the suppression of press freedom is growing. In Mexico, violence associated with drug trafficking has led to a dramatic increase in attacks on journalists and rising levels of self-censorship and impunity. In 2010, the country’s organized crime groups moved 2 FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 2011 The Global Picture in 2010 What the Index Measures Of the 196 countries and territories assessed The Freedom of the Press index assesses during 2010, a total of 68 (35 percent) were the degree of print, broadcast, and internet rated Free, 65 (33 percent) were rated Partly freedom in every country in the world, Free, and 63 (32 percent) were rated Not Free. analyzing the events and developments of This balance is almost exactly the same as in the each calendar year. Ratings are edition covering 2009, which featured 69 Free, determined through an examination of 64 Partly Free, and 63 Not Free countries and three broad categories: the legal territories. environment in which media operate; The survey found that only 15 percent of political influences on reporting and the world’s inhabitants live in countries with a access to information; and economic Free press, while 42 percent have a Partly Free pressures on content and the dissemination press and 43 percent live in Not Free of news. environments. The population figures are significantly affected by two countries—China, Under the legal category, the index with a Not Free status, and India, with a Partly assesses the laws and regulations that Free status—that together account for over a could influence media content as well as the extent to which the government uses third of the world’s nearly seven billion people. these tools to restrict the media’s ability to The percentage of those enjoying Free media in function. 2010 declined by another point to the lowest level since 1996, when Freedom House began The political category encompasses a incorporating population data into the findings variety of issues, including editorial of the survey. Meanwhile, the share living in pressure by the government or other Not Free countries jumped by three percentage actors, censorship and self-censorship, the points, reflecting the move by three populous ability of reporters to cover the news, and states—Egypt, Mexico, and Thailand—into this the extralegal intimidation of and violence status designation.

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