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Freedom House Releases “Freedom of the Press 2011” Report
May 5, 2011
By: Carlos Aramayo | Printer Friendly

On May 2, the Washington DC-based democracy support organization Freedom House, whose mission is to “protect and promote freedom around the World,” issued its annual Freedom of the Press report. The report annually surveys and identifies threats to independent media in 196 countries and territories. It was released as part of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day celebration in Washington, DC.

The 2011 report announced that global media freedom has reached a new “low point,” with only one in every six people living in countries with a free press. Of the 196 countries and territories, 68 were rated as “free,” 65 were rated as “partly free,” and 63 were rated as “not free.” This year’s report noted declines in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Western European regions.

Specifically, the 2011 report stated that the most significant press freedom declines took place in the countries of Egypt, Honduras, Hungary, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine. Other substantial declines were also noted in the Middle East and North Africa region as authoritarian governments cracked down on unprecedented calls for democratic reform swept across the Arab world beginning in the first half of 2011.

Although there were numerous declines, the 2011 report did identify that notable improvements had been made in sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union. The countries of Guinea, Niger and Moldova were reported to have made “impressive openings,” while “smaller positive steps” were found to have been made in Georgia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. In the Americas, Columbia was also shown to have made improvements to press freedom.

In addition, the report also identifies the Top 10 worst countries for free media -- defined as where the press can operate independently and does not face pressure or interference from outside forces -- as Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, and North Korea. In these states, "independent media are either nonexistent or barely able to operate, the press acts as a mouthpiece for the regime, citizens' access to unbiased information is severely limited, and dissent is crushed through imprisonment, torture, and other forms of repression."

The Freedom of the Press report is updated each year at the World Press Freedom Conference, and serves as a visual guide of the strides made in press freedom as well as the challenges the press still faces worldwide.

To read the report, please see:
Freedom of the Press 2011 Survey Release

Sources:
Freedom House Press Release – Middle East in Decline as Global Press Freedom Hits Low Point