WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX, 2020

Prelims level : Governance Mains level : GS-II Government policies and interventions for Development in Various Sectors and Issues Arising out of their Design and Implementation.
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Why in News?

  • India has dropped two places on a global press freedom index to be ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in the annual World Press Freedom Report.

Highlights:

  • The report said that with no murders of journalists in India in 2019, as against six in 2018.
  • However, there have been constant press freedom violations, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.

World Press Freedom Index:

  • The Press Freedom Index is an Annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders.
  • It is based upon the organization’s own assessment of the countries’ press freedom records.
  • It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
  • The report is partly based on a questionnaire which asks questions about pluralism media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure.

Global Scenario:

  • Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fourth year running.
  • India ranked better than its neighbours Pakistan (145) and Bangladesh (151), but worse than Sri Lanka (127) and Nepal (112)
  • China at 177thposition is just three places above North Korea, which is at 180th.

Various Threats to Press Freedom:

  • Across the world, press freedom is under pressure from aggressive authoritarian regimes.
  • The media is also facing a technological crisis, due to a lack of democratic guarantees and a democratic crisis following polarization and repressive policies, the report reads.
  • In addition comes a crisis of trust following growing suspicion and even hatred of the media, and an economic crisis and impoverishing of quality journalism.
  • Among other issues, the report has listed coordinated social media hate campaigns against journalists reporting on issues that “annoy right-wing followers”, criminal prosecutions to gag journalists critical of authorities and police violence against journalists.
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