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Africa: Press Freedom Index
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Jan 31, 2013 (130131)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
Reporters Without Borders has just published their Press
Freedom Index for 2013, with a brief review and ratings
of conditions for journalists in 179 countries around the
world. While some African countries rank at the bottom of
the list (notably Somalia at 175 and Eritrea at 179),
other African countries fall in the middle or even close
to the top. Namibia (19) ranks above Canada (20). Cape
Verde (25) ranks above Australia (26), and Ghana (30)
above the United States (32).
While I am skeptical of how precise any such quantitative
ranking can be, Reporters Without Borders is very
explicit about its methodology and has a well-established
mechanism for regular collection of data. Their index
takes into account not only obvious data such as
journalists killed or imprisoned, but also factors such
as the level of openness for alternative views in the
media.
The full report is available at http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html
This AfricaFocus Bulletin includes the sections on
"Africa" (sub-Saharan) and "Middle East and North
Africa," the full list of rankings for 179 countries, a
shorter list with only African countries and selected
others for convenient comparison, and an excerpt from the
report on its methodology.
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
Africa
2013 World Press Freedom Index
Reporters Without Borders
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html
Reporters Without Borders promotes and defends the
freedom to be informed and to inform others throughout
the world. Based in Paris, it has ten international
offices and more than 150 correspondents in all five
continents.
Tel. : 33 1 44 83 84 56
Fax : 33 1 45 23 11 51
presse@rsf.org
http://www.rsf.org
East Africa stagnates near bottom of the index, Mali
nosedives
East Africa: journalists' graveyard
In Somalia (175th, -11) 18 journalists were killed,
caught up in bomb attacks or the direct targets of
murder, making 2012 the deadliest in history for the
country's media. The Horn of Africa state was the second
most dangerous country in the world for those working in
news and information, behind Syria. In Eritrea (in last
place in the index for the sixth successive year), no
journalists were killed but some were left to die, which
amounts to the same thing. With at least 30 behind bars,
it is Africa's biggest prison for journalists. Of 11
incarcerated since 2001, 7 have died as a result of
prison conditions or have killed themselves. Since the
independent media were abolished more than 10 years ago,
there are no independent Eritrean news outlets, other
than outside the country, and terror prevails.
East Africa is also a region of censorship and
crackdowns. Omar al-Bashir's Sudan, where more newspapers
were seized and the arrests of journalists continued
during the summer, is stuck firmly in 170th place, in the
bottom 10 of the index. Djibouti (167th, -8), which also
has no independent media, detained a correspondent of the
foreign-based news site La Voix de Djibouti. Despite the
release of two Swedish journalists arrested in 2011,
Ethiopia (137th) fell ten places because of its
repressive application of the 2009 anti-terrorist law and
the continued detention of several local journalists.
Political unrest in Mali and the Central African Republic
Mali (99th, -74), which was long presented as the
continent's star performer in democracy and press
freedom, was prey to the political events that overtook
it during the year. The military coup in Bamako on 22
March and the seizure of the north of the country by
Touareg separatists and Islamic fundamentalists exposed
news organizations to censorship and abuses. Many
northern radio stations stopped broadcasting, while in
the capital several Malian and foreign journalists were
assaulted. All these occurred before the external
military intervention in January 2013.
The Central African Republic was ranked 65th in 2012.
Events after the outbreak of the Seleka rebellion at the
very end of the year (radio stations ransacked, one
journalist killed) were not taken into consideration in
this index, thus preventing the country from falling more
than 50 places. These will be included in the 2014
version. In Guinea-Bissau (92nd, -17) a media blackout
and military censorship that followed the coup on 12
April explain that country's drop.
Africa's predatory censors
Yahya Jammeh, King Mswati III, Paul Kagame, and Teodoro
Obiang Nguema, together with other heads of state such as
Issaias Afeworki (Eritrea) and Ismael Omar Guelleh
(Djibouti) are members of an exclusive club of
authoritarian African leaders, some eccentric others
stern, who hold their countries in an iron grasp and keep
a firm grip on news and information. Their countries,
respectively Gambia (152nd), Swaziland (155th), Rwanda
(161st) and Equatorial Guinea (166th), are all among the
bottom 30 in the index. Media pluralism has been whittled
away and criticism of the head of state discouraged.
The biggest losses Chad, which fell 18 places to 121st,
saw journalists harassed and roughed up, the publication
of the newspaper N'Djamena Bi-Hebdo temporarily halted
and its publisher sentenced to a suspended prison term,
and a highly repressive bill kept under wraps. The slow
but sure progress that followed the formation of a
national unity government in Zimbabwe (133rd, -16) in
2009 and the granting of publication licences to several
independent newspapers appeared to have stalled. Violence
and arrests of journalists still niggle and if elections
go ahead as planned in 2013, the atmosphere for the media
promises to be tense. Relatively high placed in
2011-2012, South Sudan (124th) fell 12 places after the
murder of a columnist -- the first killing of its kind in
the new country -- as news organizations and journalists
awaited the approval of three new laws on the media.
Despite the holding of a national media conference in
Cameroon (120th, -23), the future of the sector remains
both uncertain and worrying. In the upper reaches of the
index, Niger (43rd) nonetheless fell 14 places as a
result of the irresponsibility of a few journalists who
succumbed to the temptation to abuse the freedom that
they enjoyed. Within the space of four months in Tanzania
(70th, -36), one journalist was killed while he was
covering a demonstration and another was found dead, a
clear victim of murder. Burundi (132nd) fell only two
places but remains a low position. Summonses of
journalists declined but the case of Hassan Ruvakuki,
given a life sentence reduced to three years on appeal,
has created an atmosphere of fear among the media.
Return to normality
After a dreadful year in 2011, marked by the dictatorial
behaviour of the late President Bingu Wa Mutharika, a
violent crackdown on demonstrations and the murder of the
blogger Robert Chasowa, Malawi (75th) recorded the
biggest jump in the entire index, up 71 places, close to
the position it held in 2010. Similarly, Côte d'Ivoire
rose 63 places to 96th despite persistent problems. It
had plummeted in the previous index because of a postelection
crisis and the murders of a journalist and
another media worker, as well as the civil conflict that
broke out in Abidjan in April. Uganda (104th) was up 35
places thanks to a better year, but things were far from
satisfactory as far as the media were concerned. The year
ended with President Yoweri Museveni making open threats
to several radio stations.
Promising gains
For Senegal (59th, +16), 2012 was a year of hope. The
presidential election took place in a peaceful atmosphere
for the media, despite a few regrettable assaults on
journalists, and President Macky Sall, who had declared
himself willing to decriminalize press offences, took
office. Much remains to be proved in 2013, as was
illustrated by the prison sentence handed down on a
journalist in December.
In Liberia (97th, +13), the presidential election in
November 2011 had been tainted by the closure of several
media outlets and attacks on journalists. In 2012, the
atmosphere improved greatly. In the summer, President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the second African head of
state, after Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, to sign the
Declaration of Table Mountain, thereby undertaking to
promote media freedom. Namibia (19th), Cape Verde (25th)
and Ghana (30th) maintained their record as the highest
ranked African countries.
Middle East & North Africa
2012 -- Year Two of the new Arab world
"Arab spring" uprisings caused a lot of movements in the
Press Freedom Index in 2011 and the situation was still
very mixed in 2012, with countries where governments have
fallen, countries where they still survive but are facing
uprisings, and countries where, by dint of compromises
and promises, they have managed to
assuage the demands for change.
Syria and Bahrain at the bottom of the index
Syria is ranked 176th in the index, fourth from last. Of
all the ranked countries, it is the one that saw the most
attacks on freedom of information. Journalists are
targeted by all the parties to the conflict -- the
regular army and the various opposition factions -- who
are waging an information war.
Bahrain (165th) rose eight places, after limited
improvement. The government crackdown continued in 2012
but was slightly less violent than the previous year,
when the country plunged 29 places. In all, Bahrain has
fallen 66 places in the space of four years and is now in
the bottom 20.
Fertile revolutions for freedom of information?
After the fall of dictators, the promises of media
pluralism and independence are not always sufficiently
translated into action. Libya (131st, +23) rose more than
20 places. This jump was due to the overthrow of Muammar
Gaddafi's 42-year regime and its positive impact on
freedom of information. Libya's ranking the year before
was affected by all the violations in 2011, when Gaddafi
was still clinging to power. The improvements nonetheless
need to be confirmed by the inclusion of freedom of
information in the constitution and the adoption of laws
guaranteeing this freedom and providing real protection
for journalists and safeguards for media pluralism and
independence.
Two years after Ben Ali's fall, Tunisia (138th) slipped
four places, after jumping more than 30 places in 2011.
Why? Because there was an increase in attacks on
journalists in the first quarter of 2012 and because the
authorities have maintained a judicial void by delaying
the implementation of decree-laws regulating the media.
This allowed them to arbitrarily appoint people to run
the state-owned media. Furthermore, politicians often
refer to journalists and news media with contempt or even
hate.
Egypt (158th) rose eight places, two years after Hosni
Mubarak's departure. This was a slight improvement on
2011, when violence against media personnel caused the
country to plummet 39 places from 127th. Journalists and
netizens continue to be the targets of physical attacks,
arrests and trials and one was fatally injured in
December. Shortly after winning elections, the Muslim
Brotherhood appointed new executives and editors to run
the state newspapers, which had a major impact on their
editorial policies. The constitution adopted at the end
of 2012 contains vaguely-worded provisions that clearly
threaten freedoms. News media can still be closed or
seized on the orders of a judge.
Yemen (171st, +2) continued to languish in the bottom
ten. There have been no legislative changes in the year
since Abd Rab Mansour Hadi took over as president.
Journalists are still exposed to physical attacks,
prosecution and even jail sentences. A bill on privatelyowned
broadcasts and electronic media with a number of
draconian provisions, which was submitted to parliament
in 2012, has not been totally abandoned.
Countries "spared" by Arab springs rein in news providers
Buffeted by social and economic protests, the Sultanate
of Oman (141st) sank 24 places, the biggest fall in the
Middle East and North Africa in 2012. Some 50 netizens
and bloggers were prosecuted on lèse-majesté or cybercrime
charges in 2012. No fewer than 28 were convicted in
December alone, in trials that trampled on defence
rights. The authorities gave promises in response to
demands for political, social and economic change but did
not carry them out.
A repressive royal decree in September was one of the
reasons why Jordan (134th, -6) fell. The decree changed
the press law and drastically restricted freedom of
information, especially for online media, brushing aside
all the reform promises that the government gave at the
height of the popular unrest in 2011. Journalists are
being tried before military courts, especially when they
criticize the royal family.
Algeria (125th, -3) fell a few places because journalists
were the targets of both physical attacks and judicial
proceedings, and because of an increase in economic
pressure on independent media. More than a year after
parliament passed a law that is supposed to abolish the
state's broadcasting monopoly, there are still no
privately-owned TV stations because a regulatory
authority, an essential prior condition, has still not
been created. So, for the time being, the new law is
nothing but window dressing.
The ranking of Morocco (136th, +2) is stable. Media
reform was announced after Prime Minister Abdelilah
Benkirane took office in November 2011 but his government
is dragging its feet on the promised changes, especially
decriminalization of media offences. Decisions on such
matters as the granting and withdrawal of accreditation
are often arbitrary and lacking in transparency.
Palestine (146th) is still in the bottom quarter but it
rose eight places. An improvement in relations between
the Palestinian Authority and Hamas has had a positive
impact on freedom of information and the working
environment for journalists.
Iraq (150th) rose two places, but this followed a fall of
22 places last year. The security situation for
journalists continues to be very worrying, with three
killed in connection with their work in 2012 and seven
killed in 2011. Journalists are constantly obstructed.
There were only slight changes in the rankings of Saudi
Arabia (163rd, -5), Kuwait (77th, +1) and the United Arab
Emirates (114th, -2).
Lebanon (101st) fell eight places, after its media became
more polarized by neighbouring Syria's civil war. Its
journalists are exposed to arbitrary detention and
mistreatment.
The 20-place fall of Israel (112nd) is due to the actions
of the Israel Defence Forces in the Palestinian
Territories -- actions that used to be given a separate
ranking in the index under the label of "Israel
extraterritorial". During Operation "Pillar of Defence"
in November 2012, IDF deliberately targeted journalists
and buildings housing media that are affiliated to Hamas
or support it. And the arbitrary arrest and detention of
Palestinian journalists is still commonplace. Israeli
journalists meanwhile enjoy real freedom of expression
but military censorship continues to be a structural
problem.
Relatives held hostage in Iran
Somalia's fall in the index due to the many deaths of
journalists there in 2012 allowed Iran (174th) to rise
one place. Its print and broadcast media and news
websites are all controlled by the Ministry of
Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards. The
authorities have internationalized their repression by
making hostages out of the relatives of Iranian
journalists who work abroad or in Iran for foreign news
media. The Islamic Republic is one of the world's five
biggest prisons for news and information providers.
Press Freedom Index 2013 - Worldwide Rankings
African countries marked with *
Rank Country
1 Finland
2 Netherlands
3 Norway
4 Luxembourg
5 Andorra
6 Denmark
7 Liechtenstein
8 New Zealand
9 Iceland
10 Sweden
11 Estonia
12 Austria
13 Jamaica
14 Switzerland
15 Ireland
16 Czech Republic
17 Germany
18 Costa Rica
19 * Namibia
20 Canada
21 Belgium
22 Poland
23 Slovakia
24 Cyprus
25 * Cape Verde
26 Australia
27 Uruguay
28 Portugal
29 United Kingdom
30 * Ghana
31 Suriname
32 United States
33 Lithuania
34 OECS
35 Slovenia
36 Spain
37 France
38 El Salvador
39 Latvia
40 * Botswana
41 Papua New Guinea
42 Romania
43 * Niger
44 Trinidad and Tobago
45 Malta
46 * Burkina Faso
47 Taiwan
48 Samoa
49 Haiti
50 South Korea
51 * Comoros
52 * South Africa
53 Japan
54 Argentina
55 Moldova
56 Hungary
57 Italy
58 Hong Kong
59 * Senegal
60 Chile
61 * Sierra Leone
62 * Mauritius
63 Serbia
64 Croatia
65 * Central African Republic
66 Tonga
67 * Mauritania
68 Bosnia and Herzegovina
69 Guyana
70 * Tanzania
71 * Kenya
72 * Zambia
73 * Mozambique
74 Armenia
75 * Malawi
76 * Republic of the Congo
77 Kuwait
78 Nicaragua
79 * Benin
80 Dominican Republic
81 * Lesotho
82 Bhutan
83 * Togo
84 Greece
85 Kosovo
86 * Guinea
87 Bulgaria
88 * Madagascar
89 * Gabon
90 East Timor
91 Paraguay
92 * Guinea-Bisssau
93 * Seychelles
94 Northern Cyprus
95 Guatemala
96 * Ivory Coast
97 * Liberia
98 Mongolia
99 * Mali
100 Georgia
101 Lebanon
102 Albania
103 Maldives
104 * Uganda
105 Peru
106 Kyrgyzstan
107 Fiji
108 Brazil
109 Bolivia
110 Qatar
111 Panama
112 Israel
113 Montenegro
114 United Arab Emirates
115 * Nigeria
116 Republic of Macedonia
117 Venezuela
118 Nepal
119 Ecuador
120 * Cameroon
121 * Chad
122 Brunei
123 Tajikistan
124 * South Sudan
125 * Algeria
126 Ukraine
127 Honduras
128 Afghanistan
129 Colombia
130 * Angola
131 * Libya
132 * Burundi
133 * Zimbabwe
134 Jordan
135 Thailand
136 * Morocco
137 * Ethiopia
138 * Tunisia
139 Indonesia
140 India
141 Oman
142 * DR Congo
143 Cambodia
144 Bangladesh
145 Malaysia
146 Palestine
147 Philippines
148 Russia
149 Singapore
150 Iraq
151 Burma
152 * Gambia
153 Mexico
154 Turkey
155 * Swaziland
156 Azerbaijan
157 Belarus
158 * Egypt
159 Pakistan
160 Kazakhstan
161 * Rwanda
162 Sri Lanka
163 Saudi Arabia
164 Uzbekistan
165 Bahrain
166 * Equatorial Guinea
167 * Djibouti
168 Laos
169 Yemen
170 * Sudan
171 Cuba
172 Vietnam
173 China
174 Iran
175 * Somalia
176 Syria
177 Turkmenistan
178 North Korea
179 * Eritrea
Press Freedom Index 2013
Rankings for African Countries and Selected Comparisons
African countries marked with *
Rank Country
1 Finland
18 Costa Rica
19 * Namibia
20 Canada
25 * Cape Verde
26 Australia
29 United Kingdom
30 * Ghana
32 United States
40 * Botswana
43 * Niger
46 * Burkina Faso
51 * Comoros
52 * South Africa
53 Japan
59 * Senegal
61 * Sierra Leone
62 * Mauritius
65 * Central African Republic
67 * Mauritania
70 * Tanzania
71 * Kenya
72 * Zambia
73 * Mozambique
75 * Malawi
76 * Republic of the Congo
79 * Benin
81 * Lesotho
83 * Togo
86 * Guinea
88 * Madagascar
89 * Gabon
92 * Guinea-Bisssau
93 * Seychelles
96 * Ivory Coast
97 * Liberia
99 * Mali
104 * Uganda
108 Brazil
115 * Nigeria
120 * Cameroon
121 * Chad
124 * South Sudan
125 * Algeria
130 * Angola
131 * Libya
132 * Burundi
133 * Zimbabwe
136 * Morocco
137 * Ethiopia
138 * Tunisia
140 India
142 * DR Congo
148 Russia
152 * Gambia
153 Mexico
154 Turkey
155 * Swaziland
158 * Egypt
161 * Rwanda
166 * Equatorial Guinea
167 * Djibouti
168 Laos
169 Yemen
170 * Sudan
171 Cuba
172 Vietnam
173 China
174 Iran
175 * Somalia
176 Syria
177 Turkmenistan
178 North Korea
179 * Eritrea
How We Compiled the Press Freedom Index
The press freedom index that Reporters Without Borders
publishes every year measures the level of freedom of
information in nearly 180 countries. It reflects the
degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations and netizens enjoy in each country,
and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and
ensure respect for this freedom.
It is based partly on a questionnaire that is sent to our
partner organizations (18 freedom of expression NGOs
located in all five continents), to our network of 150
correspondents, and to journalists, researchers, jurists
and human rights activists.
The 179 countries ranked in this year's index are those
for which Reporters Without Borders received completed
questionnaires from various sources. Some countries were
not included because of a lack of reliable, confirmed
data. This year, there has been a major change in the
method used to compile the index, including the use of a
new questionnaire. Quantitative questions about the
number of violations of different kinds are now handled
by our staff. They include the number of journalists,
media assistants and netizens who were jailed or killed
in the connection with their activities, the number of
journalists abducted, the number that fled into exile,
the number of physical attacks and arrests, and the
number of media censored. In the event of a military
occupation of one or more territories, any violations by
representatives of the occupying force are treated as
violations of the right to information in foreign
territory and are incorporated into the score of the
occupying force's country.
The rest of the questionnaire, which is sent to outside
experts and members of the RWB network, concentrates on
issues that are hard to quantify such as the degree to
which news providers censor themselves, government
interference in editorial content, or the transparency of
government decision-making. Legislation and its
effectiveness are the subject of more detailed questions.
Questions have been added or expanded, for example,
questions about concentration of media ownership and
favouritism in the allocation of subsidies or state
advertising. Similarly, discrimination in access to
journalism and journalism training is also included.
A score and a position are assigned to each country in
the final ranking. They are complementary indicators that
together assess the state of press freedom. In order to
make the index more informative and make it easier to
compare different years, scores will henceforth range
from 0 to 100, with 0 being the best possible score and
100 the worst.
The index reflects the situation during a specific
period. This year's index is based solely on events
between the start of December 2011 and the end of
November 2012. It does not look at human rights
violations in general, just violations of freedom
of information.
The index should in no way be taken as an indication of
the quality of the media in the countries concerned.
{The full report contains more technical details on
indicators and score calculations.]
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic
publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on
African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and
international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by
William Minter.
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