Freedom of the Press (report)
Freedom of the Press is an annual report by the US non-governmental organization Freedom House . It measures the extent of press freedom and editorial independence of the press in countries and disputed areas of the world.
methodic procedure
The "Freedom of the Press" index assigns each country a place in the ranking and provides a detailed country report. The countries are assigned a value from 0 (best) to 100 (worst), which is obtained from a questionnaire with 23 methodological questions and 109 indicators . These indicators can be divided into three categories: the legal environment, the political environment and the economic environment.
The legal environment (0–30 points) includes, on the one hand, regulations that could influence media content and, on the other hand, the government's tendency to restrict the work of the press through these laws. Freedom House judges in this category u. a. the constitutional guarantees for freedom of the press, the penalty for defamation and defamation, the independence of the judiciary and the media regulatory authorities, as well as the licensing requirements for media companies and journalists.
The category of the political environment (0–40 points) is defined by the possible control of politics on the media content. The editorial independence of the media, access to information and sources, official censorship and self-censorship, the variety of news available, the presence of local and at the same time foreign reporters, and intimidation of journalists are examined.
The category of the economic environment (0–30 points) includes the ownership structures of the media as well as the transparency and concentration of ownership. Furthermore, the costs of the production and distribution of the media, the extent of corruption and the influence of bribery on the media content as well as the extent of the influence of the economic situation of a country on the development of the media are considered.
The place in the ranking of a country is formed from the totalized values in these three categories: with a value from 0 to 30 a country is considered free, from 31 to 60 as partially free and from 61 to 100 as not free.
2017 report
Worldwide
| country | rank | rating | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 Norway
|
1 | 8th | free |
 Netherlands
|
2 | 11 | free |
 Sweden
|
2 | 11 | free |
 Belgium
|
4th | 12 | free |
 Denmark
|
4th | 12 | free |
 Finland
|
4th | 12 | free |
 Switzerland
|
7th | 13 | free |
 Luxembourg
|
8th | 14th | free |
 Andorra
|
9 | 15th | free |
 Iceland
|
9 | 15th | free |
 Liechtenstein
|
9 | 15th | free |
 Palau
|
9 | 15th | free |
 Costa Rica
|
13 | 16 | free |
 Estonia
|
13 | 16 | free |
 Monaco
|
13 | 16 | free |
 Marshall Islands
|
16 | 17th | free |
 Portugal
|
16 | 17th | free |
 St. Lucia
|
16 | 17th | free |
 San Marino
|
16 | 17th | free |
 Canada
|
20th | 18th | free |
 Ireland
|
20th | 18th | free |
 Barbados
|
22nd | 19th | free |
 Jamaica
|
22nd | 19th | free |
 New Zealand
|
22nd | 19th | free |
 Germany
|
25th | 20th | free |
 Czech Republic
|
26th | 21st | free |
 Lithuania
|
26th | 21st | free |
 Micronesia
|
26th | 21st | free |
 St. Kitts and Nevis
|
26th | 21st | free |
 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
|
26th | 21st | free |
 Australia
|
31 | 22nd | free |
 Austria
|
31 | 22nd | free |
 Bahamas
|
33 | 23 | free |
 Malta
|
33 | 23 | free |
 Slovenia
|
33 | 23 | free |
 United States
|
33 | 23 | free |
 Cyprus
|
33 | 23 | free |
 Uruguay
|
38 | 24 | free |
 Dominica
|
39 | 25th | free |
 Taiwan
|
39 | 25th | free |
 Trinidad and Tobago
|
39 | 25th | free |
 Vanuatu
|
39 | 25th | free |
 United Kingdom
|
39 | 25th | free |
 France
|
44 | 26th | free |
 Grenada
|
44 | 26th | free |
 Latvia
|
44 | 26th | free |
 Slovakia
|
44 | 26th | free |
 Belize
|
48 | 27 | free |
 Cape Verde
|
48 | 27 | free |
 Japan
|
48 | 27 | free |
 Solomon Islands
|
48 | 27 | free |
 Tuvalu
|
48 | 27 | free |
 Sao Tome and Principe
|
53 | 28 | free |
 Spain
|
53 | 28 | free |
 Suriname
|
53 | 28 | free |
 Chile
|
56 | 29 | free |
 Mauritius
|
56 | 29 | free |
 Papua New Guinea
|
56 | 29 | free |
 Samoa
|
56 | 29 | free |
 Kiribati
|
60 | 30th | free |
 Tonga
|
60 | 30th | free |
 Italy
|
62 | 31 | partly free |
 Namibia
|
63 | 32 | partly free |
 Ghana
|
64 | 33 | partly free |
 Israel
|
64 | 33 | partly free |
 Antigua and Barbuda
|
66 | 34 | partly free |
 Poland
|
66 | 34 | partly free |
 South Korea
|
66 | 34 | partly free |
 East Timor
|
69 | 35 | partly free |
 Benin
|
70 | 37 | partly free |
 Mali
|
70 | 37 | partly free |
 Mongolia
|
70 | 37 | partly free |
 Guyana
|
73 | 38 | partly free |
 Romania
|
73 | 38 | partly free |
 South Africa
|
73 | 38 | partly free |
 Burkina Faso
|
76 | 41 | partly free |
 Croatia
|
76 | 41 | partly free |
 El Salvador
|
76 | 41 | partly free |
 Panama
|
76 | 41 | partly free |
 Bulgaria
|
80 | 42 | partly free |
 Dominican Republic
|
80 | 42 | partly free |
 Hong Kong
|
80 | 42 | partly free |
 India
|
83 | 43 | partly free |
 Fiji
|
84 | 44 | partly free |
 Greece
|
84 | 44 | partly free |
 Hungary
|
84 | 44 | partly free |
 Montenegro
|
84 | 44 | partly free |
 Philippines
|
84 | 44 | partly free |
 Botswana
|
89 | 45 | partly free |
 Malawi
|
89 | 45 | partly free |
 Peru
|
89 | 45 | partly free |
 Argentina
|
92 | 46 | partly free |
 Nauru
|
92 | 46 | partly free |
 Brazil
|
94 | 47 | partly free |
 Senegal
|
94 | 47 | partly free |
 Kosovo
|
96 | 48 | partly free |
 Mozambique
|
96 | 48 | partly free |
 Comoros
|
98 | 49 | partly free |
 Indonesia
|
98 | 49 | partly free |
 Serbia
|
98 | 49 | partly free |
 Seychelles
|
98 | 49 | partly free |
 Georgia
|
102 | 50 | partly free |
 Albania
|
103 | 51 | partly free |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
103 | 51 | partly free |
 Ivory Coast
|
103 | 51 | partly free |
 Lesotho
|
103 | 51 | partly free |
 Nigeria
|
103 | 51 | partly free |
 Haiti
|
108 | 52 | partly free |
 Nepal
|
108 | 52 | partly free |
 Niger
|
108 | 52 | partly free |
 Bolivia
|
111 | 53 | partly free |
 Mauritania
|
111 | 53 | partly free |
 Somaliland
|
111 | 53 | partly free |
 Ukraine
|
111 | 53 | partly free |
 Sierra Leone
|
115 | 54 | partly free |
 Tunisia
|
115 | 54 | partly free |
 Nicaragua
|
117 | 55 | partly free |
 Lebanon
|
118 | 56 | partly free |
 Moldova
|
118 | 56 | partly free |
 Colombia
|
120 | 57 | partly free |
 Togo
|
120 | 57 | partly free |
 Bhutan
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Guatemala
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Kenya
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Madagascar
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Tanzania
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Uganda
|
122 | 58 | partly free |
 Guinea-Bissau
|
128 | 59 | partly free |
 Paraguay
|
128 | 59 | partly free |
 Afghanistan
|
130 | 60 | partly free |
 Republic of the Congo
|
130 | 60 | partly free |
 Kuwait
|
130 | 60 | partly free |
 Liberia
|
130 | 60 | partly free |
 Sri Lanka
|
134 | 61 | not free |
 Bangladesh
|
135 | 62 | not free |
 Maldives
|
135 | 62 | not free |
 Armenia
|
137 | 63 | not free |
 Zambia
|
137 | 63 | not free |
 North Macedonia
|
139 | 64 | not free |
 Mexico
|
139 | 64 | not free |
 Algeria
|
141 | 65 | not free |
 Pakistan
|
141 | 65 | not free |
 Cameroon
|
143 | 66 | not free |
 Ecuador
|
143 | 66 | not free |
 Guinea
|
143 | 66 | not free |
.svg){kind=small} Honduras
|
143 | 66 | not free |
 Morocco
|
143 | 66 | not free |
 Kyrgyzstan
|
148 | 67 | not free |
 Singapore
|
148 | 67 | not free |
 Jordan
|
150 | 68 | not free |
 Malaysia
|
151 | 69 | not free |
 Cambodia
|
152 | 70 | not free |
 Qatar
|
152 | 70 | not free |
 South Sudan
|
152 | 70 | not free |
 Central African Republic
|
155 | 71 | not free |
 Gabon
|
155 | 71 | not free |
 Iraq
|
155 | 71 | not free |
 Oman
|
155 | 71 | not free |
 Angola
|
159 | 73 | not free |
 Myanmar
|
159 | 73 | not free |
 Chad
|
161 | 74 | not free |
 Zimbabwe
|
161 | 74 | not free |
 Brunei
|
163 | 76 | not free |
 Turkey
|
163 | 76 | not free |
 Djibouti
|
165 | 77 | not free |
 Egypt
|
165 | 77 | not free |
 Libya
|
165 | 77 | not free |
 Thailand
|
165 | 77 | not free |
 United Arab Emirates
|
169 | 78 | not free |
 Rwanda
|
170 | 79 | not free |
 Somalia
|
170 | 79 | not free |
 Venezuela
|
172 | 81 | not free |
 Democratic Republic of Congo
|
173 | 82 | not free |
 Belarus
|
174 | 83 | not free |
 Russia
|
174 | 83 | not free |
 Swaziland
|
174 | 83 | not free |
 Vietnam
|
177 | 84 | not free |
 Palestine
|
177 | 84 | not free |
 Burundi
|
179 | 85 | not free |
 Kazakhstan
|
179 | 85 | not free |
 Laos
|
179 | 85 | not free |
 Yemen
|
179 | 85 | not free |
 Ethiopia
|
183 | 86 | not free |
 Saudi Arabia
|
183 | 86 | not free |
 Sudan
|
183 | 86 | not free |
 Bahrain
|
186 | 87 | not free |
 People's Republic of China
|
186 | 87 | not free |
 Tajikistan
|
186 | 87 | not free |
 Gambia
|
186 | 87 | not free |
 Azerbaijan
|
190 | 90 | not free |
 Iran
|
190 | 90 | not free |
 Syria
|
190 | 90 | not free |
 Cuba
|
193 | 91 | not free |
 Equatorial Guinea
|
193 | 91 | not free |
| Republic of Crimea | 195 | 94 | not free |
 Eritrea
|
195 | 94 | not free |
 Uzbekistan
|
197 | 95 | not free |
 North Korea
|
198 | 98 | not free |
 Turkmenistan
|
198 | 98 | not free |
America
|
|
Asia Pacific
|
|
Central and Eastern Europe + Central Asia
|
|
Middle East and North Africa
|
|
Sub-Saharan Africa
|
|
Western Europe
|
|
Trend of some European countries
- Source: Freedom of the Press - historical data
| country | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2017 |
|
Germany
|
11 | 18th | 21st | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15th | 15th | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20th |
|
France
|
19th | 27 | 30th | 26th | 26th | 27 | 24 | 21st | 17th | 17th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 21st | 22nd | 22nd | 26th |
|
Greece
|
30th | 26th | 29 | 27 | 30th | 30th | 30th | 30th | 30th | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 25th | 27 | 29 | 44 |
|
Italy
|
25th | 30th | 30th | 27 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 33 | 35 | 35 | 29 | 29 | 32 | 31 |
|
Austria
|
19th | 18th | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14th | 24 | 23 | 23 | 21st | 21st | 21st | 21st | 21st | 22nd |
|
Switzerland
|
11 | 10 | 8th | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
|
Spain
|
14th | 23 | 17th | 19th | 17th | 21st | 18th | 20th | 17th | 16 | 19th | 22nd | 21st | 22nd | 23 | 24 | 28 |
|
Turkey
|
59 | 73 | 74 | 65 | 69 | 69 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 55 | 52 | 48 | 48 | 49 | 51 | 50 | 76 |
|
United Kingdom
|
24 | 22nd | 22nd | 22nd | 21st | 20th | 20th | 17th | 18th | 18th | 19th | 18th | 19th | 19th | 18th | 19th | 25th |
See also
- Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders
- International Press Institute
- Human Rights Watch
- Committee to Protect Journalists
Web links
- Freedom of the Press - online on the Freedom House website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Freedom of the Press Historical Data ( English ) Freedom House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 23, 201. Retrieved April 11, 2019.