DUSHANBE, May 4, 2009, Asia-Plus — The findings of the Global Press Freedom 2009 report released by Freedom House on April 30 show that journalists are facing an increasingly dismal working environment, with a decline in global press freedom in every region of the world.
In the nearly 30 years Freedom House has been rating global press freedom. 2008 is the first year it has reported declines in every region across the world.
The report ranks Tajikistan 168th among 195 countries of the world in terms of freedom of press. Tajikistan sharing this place with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Sudan is ranked among countries, where media is “Not Free.”
The Freedom of the Press index is an annual survey of media independence in 195 countries and territories, is at the core of Freedom House”s press freedom project. The annual index contains the most comprehensive data set available on global media freedom and is a key resource for scholars, policymakers, and international institutions. The index assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and internet freedom in every country in the world, analyzing the events of each calendar year. It provides numerical rankings and rates each country”s media as “Free,” “Partly Free,” or “Not Free.” Country narratives examine the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information.
Freedom House found that only 17 percent of the world”s population lives in countries that enjoy a fully free press, while 41 percent live in partly free media environments and 42 percent live in countries with a not free press.
Freedom House is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, is a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world. Through a vast array of international programs and publications, Freedom House is working to advance the remarkable worldwide expansion of political and economic freedom. Freedom House has been at the forefront in monitoring threats to media independence since 1980. A free press plays a key role in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy, as well as in contributing to greater accountability, good government, and economic development. Most importantly, restrictions on media are often an early indicator that governments intend to assault other democratic institutions.
According to Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press index, after two decades of progress, press freedom is now in decline in almost every part of the world. Only 17 percent of the world”s citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press. In the rest of the world, governments as well as non-state actors control the viewpoints that reach citizens and brutally repress independent voices who aim to promote accountability, good governance, and economic development.
According to the May 2 item, entitled “Global Press Freedom Declines,” posted on Freedom House’s website, the executive director of Freedom House, Jennifer Windsor, says the journalism profession is fighting to stay alive, which she warns has enormous implications for democracy. “Declines have been registered in established democracies, as well as partly free countries, and the most repressive regimes have continued to tighten their grip in order to control the information flows that have become increasingly globalized and out of their control,” she said.
The annual media study says twice as many countries declined in press freedoms than gained last year.
