gulfnews
Is singled out for its pursuit of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and conviction of WikiLeaks informer Bradley Manning
AFP
Published: 18:18 February 12, 2014
Gulf News
Paris:
Conflicts continued to weigh heavily on the media last year but press freedom was also under increasing threat from abuses by democracies like the United States, Reporters Without Borders said on Wednesday.
In its annual World Press Freedom Index, the Paris-based media rights watchdog warned of the “growing threat worldwide” from the “tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner”.
The United States was singled out for its pursuit of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, the conviction of WikiLeaks informer Bradley Manning and the secret seizure of phone records from the Associated Press.
The group, known by its French acronym RSF, said the United States had suffered “one of the most significant declines” in press freedom last year, dropping 13 places to 46th in the 180-country index, wedged between Romania and Haiti.
“Countries that pride themselves on being democracies and respecting the rule of law have not set an example, far from it,” RSF said.
While India came in at 140th place as one of the worst countries for press freedom, Pakistan was positioned at 158, with the restive province of Balochistan a hot spot for violence.
Seven reporters were killed in the line of duty in 2013, the report said, blaming the government’s “unwillingness to administer justice”.
Syria remained especially deadly for journalists last year, with RSF reporting nearly 130 media professionals killed in the country since its conflict began in March 2011.
Syria’s overall ranking of fourth from the bottom was unchanged, but RSF has raised concerns about a surge in kidnappings.
Armed conflicts hurt press freedom elsewhere, with Mali falling 22 spots to 122nd and the Central African Republic dropping 43 places to 109th.
The top-ranked countries were Finland, The Netherlands and Norway, unchanged from last year.
At the bottom again were Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan, described by RSF as “news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them”.
Britain dropped three places in the ranking to 33rd, with RSF blaming the “disgraceful pressure” it put on newspaper The Guardian over its reporting of Snowden’s revelations of widespread spying by the US National Security Agency.
In Asia, Japan dropped five spots to 59th, with RSF criticising the adoption late last year of a new “intelligence protection” law that stiffens penalties for those who spill state secrets.
China, which dropped one spot to 175th, “continues to censor and jail dissident bloggers and journalists”, RSF said.
Bulgaria remained the lowest-ranked European Union country in the index, but was “closely challenged” by Greece, which is ranked 99th after years of financial pressure on the media and some violence against journalists.
The report also highlighted “noteworthy rises” in countries where “violence against journalists, direct censorship and misuse of judicial proceedings are on the decline” — including in Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.
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監聽醜聞 美新聞自由大墜33名
udn.com
【聯合晚報╱編譯蔡致仁/綜合報導】
2014.02.12 03:19 pm
無國界記者組織 (RSF)今日公布「2014年全球新聞自由指數」，美國排名大幅滑落，在180個國家中從第13名掉到第46名。RSF指出，美國追捕告密者史諾登、起訴向「維基解密」網站洩密的美軍士兵曼寧，以及祕密蒐集美聯社電話紀錄，「新聞自由倒退相當嚴重」。
新聞自由指數排名前五名的國家為芬蘭、荷蘭、挪威、盧森堡、安道爾，都是歐洲國家，前三名與去年相同。台灣排名去年第47名，今年滑落到第50名，新聞自由仍居亞洲國家榜首；中國大陸去年第173名，今年降到第175名。
倒數三名的國家為非洲厄利垂亞、北韓、中亞土庫曼斯坦。該組織形容這些國家是「新聞資訊的黑洞、記者的人間地獄」。
在這份年度報告中，無國界記者組織 (RSF)警告，「部分國家過度注重滿足國安需求，使全球新聞自由面臨更大威脅」。
RSF特別點名美國，列舉去年危害新聞自由事件，包括追捕告密者史諾登、起訴向「維基解密」網站洩密的美軍士兵曼寧，以及祕密蒐集美聯社記者與編輯的電話紀錄。該組織表示，去年美國政府新聞自由「經歷最嚴重的倒退」，排名從第13名降到第46名，排在羅馬尼亞與海地之間。
RSF說，「那些以實施民主法治自豪的國家，並未設立良好典範，行為落差相當大」。
敘利亞從2011年爆發內戰後，新聞自由與記者安全保障急遽惡化，自由度排名177與去年相同，內戰至今已將近130名媒體人員遭殺害。
武裝衝突也嚴重打擊非洲國家的新聞自由，馬利今年滑落22 個名次至第122名；中非共和國則掉43個名次至第109名。
