Susisiekti su mumis

Žurnalistika

Žurnalistika - vakcina nuo dezinformacijos - užblokuota daugiau nei 130 šalių

Dalintis:

paskelbta

on

Mes naudojame jūsų registraciją, kad pateiktume turinį jūsų sutiktais būdais ir pagerintume jūsų supratimą. Prenumeratą galite bet kada atšaukti.

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders
(RSF), shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or
partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organization.


This year’s Index, which evaluates the press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories
annually, shows that journalism, journalism, which is arguably the best vaccine against the
virus of disinformation, is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained
in 59 others, which together represent 73% of the countries evaluated. These countries are
classified as having “very bad,” “bad” or “problematic” environments for press freedom, and
are identified accordingly in black, red or orange on the World Press Freedom map.

The Index data reflect a dramatic deterioration in people's access to information and an
increase in obstacles to news coverage. The coronavirus pandemic has been used as grounds
to block journalists’ access to information sources and reporting in the field. Will this access
be restored when the pandemic is over? The data shows that journalists are finding it
increasingly hard to investigate and report sensitive stories, especially in Asia, the Middle East
ir Europoje.

The 2021 Edelman Trust barometer reveals a disturbing level of public mistrust of journalists,
with 59% of respondents in 28 countries saying that journalists deliberately try to mislead the
public by reporting information they know to be false. In reality, journalistic pluralism and
rigorous reporting serve to combat disinformation and “infodemics”, including false and
misleading information.

“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” RSF secretary-general Christophe
Deloire said. “Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political,
economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors. In response to the virality of
disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and via social media, journalism provides
the most effective means of ensuring that public debate is based on a diverse range of
established facts.”

For example, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil (down 4 at 111th) and President Nicolás
Maduro of Venezuela (down 1 at 148th) promoted medically unproven Covid-19 remedies.
Their false claims were debunked by investigative journalists at media outlets such as Brazil’s
Agência Pública and in-depth reporting by Venezuela’s few remaining independent
publications. In Iran (down 1 at 174th), the authorities tightened their control over news
coverage and stepped up trials of journalists in order to weaken the media’s ability to scrutinise
the country’s Covid-19 death toll. In Egypt (166th), President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s
government simply banned the publication of any pandemic statistics that didn’t come from the Ministry of Health. In Zimbabwe (down 4 at 130th), the investigative reporter Hopewell
Chin’ono was arrested shortly after helping to expose the overbilling practices of a medical
equipment supply company.

Biggest movements in the Index

Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fifth year running even though its media have
complained of a lack of access to state-held information about the pandemic. Finland maintained its position in second place while Sweden (up 1 at 3rd) recovered its third place
ranking, which it had yielded to Denmark (down 1 at 4th) last year. The 2021 Index
demonstrates the success of these Nordic nations’ approach towards upholding press
laisvė.

The World Press Freedom map has not had so few countries coloured white – indicating a
country situation that is at least good if not optimal – since 2013, when the current evaluation
method was adopted. This year, only 12 of the Index’s 180 countries (7%) can claim to offer a
favourable environment for journalism, as opposed to 13 countries (8%) last year. The country
to have been stripped of its “good” classification is Germany (down 2 at 13th). Dozens of its
journalists were attacked by supporters of extremist and conspiracy theory believers during
protests against pandemic restrictions.

The press freedom situation in Germany is nonetheless still classified as “fairly good,” as is the
case in the United States (down 1 at 44th), despite the fact that Donald Trump’s final year in
the White House was marked by a record number of assaults against journalists (around 400)
and arrests of members of the media (130), according to the US Press Freedom Tracker, of
which RSF is a partner. As a result of falling four places, Brazil joined the countries coloured
red, indicating that the press freedom situation there is classified as “bad”. The vilification and
orchestrated public humiliation of journalists have become trademarks of President Bolsonaro,
along with his family and closest allies. Brazil shares the “bad” classification with India (142nd), Mexico (143rd) and Russia (down 1 at 150th), which deployed its repressive apparatus to limit media coverage of protests in support of Kremlin opponent, Alexei Navalny.

China (177th), which continues to take internet censorship, surveillance and propaganda to
unprecedented levels, is still firmly anchored among the Index’s worst countries, which are
indicated in black on the World Press Freedom map. Right below China is the same trio of
totalitarian countries that have historically occupied the bottom three places. Two are Asian:
Turkmenistan (up 1 at 178th) and North Korea (up 1 at 179th). The third is African: Eritrea
(down 2 at 180th). Regardless of their continent, these countries maintain absolute control
over all news and information, enabling the first two to claim they had no Covid-19 cases and
the third to maintain complete silence about the fate of 11 journalists who were arrested 20
years ago, some of whom have allegedly been held in metal containers in the middle of a
dykuma.

The country that fell the furthest in 2021 was Malaysia (down 18 at 119th), where the problems
include a recent “anti-fake news” decree allowing the government to impose its own version of the truth. Big descents were also registered by Comoros (down 9 at 84th) and El Salvador
(down 8 at 82nd), where journalists have struggled to obtain state-held information about the
government’s handling of the pandemic. Most of the 2021 Index’s biggest gains are in Africa.
Burundi (up 13 at 147th), Sierra Leone (up 10 at 75th) and Mali (up 9 at 99th) have all seen
significant improvements, including the release of four journalists with the independent
Burundian media Iwacu, the repeal of a law criminalising press offences in Sierra Leone and
a fall in the number of abuses in Mali.

Index region by region

Europe and the Americas (North, Central and South) continue to be the most favourable
continents for press freedom, even though the Americas registered the biggest deterioration
in its regional violations score (up 2.5%). Europe registered a sizeable deterioration in its
“Abuses” indicator, with acts of violence more than doubling in the European Union and
Balkans, compared with a 17% deterioration worldwide. Attacks against journalists and
arbitrary arrests increased in Germany (13th), France (34th), Italy (41st), Poland (down 2 at
64th), Greece (down 5 at 70th), Serbia (93rd) and Bulgaria (down 1 at 112th).

Although there was less deterioration in Africa’s “Abuses” score, it continues to be the most
violent continent for journalists, and the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled the use of force to prevent
journalists from working. In Tanzania (124th), President John Magufuli called the virus a
“western conspiracy,” suggesting that Tanzania had kept it at bay “by force of prayer.” He
imposed an information blackout on the pandemic before his death in March 2021.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the “censorship virus” spread beyond China, in particular to Hong
Kong (80th), where the National security law imposed by Beijing seriously threatens journalists.
Australia (up 1 at 25th), experienced a disturbing variant: in response to proposed Australian
legislation requiring tech companies to reimburse the media for content posted on their social
media platforms, Facebook decided to ban Australian media from publishing or sharing
journalistic content on their Facebook pages.

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region held onto its second-to-last position in
the regional rankings, in part because of events in Belarus (down 5 at 158th), where journalists
were subjected to an unprecedented crackdown in an attempt to cover up the massive street
protests in response to the contested presidential election result.

There has been no significant change in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, which
maintained last place in the regional rankings. In Algeria (146th) and Morocco (down 3 at 136th), the judicial system is being used to help silence journalists, while the Middle East’s
most authoritarian countries – Saudi Arabia (170th), Egypt (166th) and Syria (up 1 at 173rd) –
have taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to reinforce their methods for gagging the
media and to reaffirm their monopoly on news and information. In this region, still the toughestand most dangerous for journalists, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that have long plagued the press, which was already in its death throes.

RSF’s global indicator – its measure of the level of media freedom worldwide – is only 0.3%
lower in the 2021 Index than it was in 2020. However, the past year’s relative stability should
not divert attention from the fact that it has deteriorated by 12% since this indicator was created
2013.

Pasidalinkite šiuo straipsniu:

EU Reporter publikuoja straipsnius iš įvairių išorinių šaltinių, kuriuose išreiškiamas platus požiūrių spektras. Šiuose straipsniuose pateiktos pozicijos nebūtinai yra ES Reporterio pozicijos.

Trendai