This Friday, Reporters Without Borders (SF) published the World Press Freedom Index, an index which evaluates the situation of journalists in 180 countries each year.
In this list, accompanied by a report placing Haiti in 93rd place, the organization warns of the threat weighing on press freedom on a global scale by those who should be the main guarantors: the political authorities . This results in an increase in media action on the part of states and political actors.
The best and worst ranked countries by RSF
At the top of the ranking, Norway is the country with the best media situation, while Eritrea replaces North Korea in 180th place as the worst country in terms of press freedom.
As for Latin America, Ecuador fell 30 places to 110th, while Argentina fell 26 places to now 66th. In both cases, due to the internal situation.
In Ecuador, “the political crisis and the rise of organized crime have disrupted democratic functioning,” explains the text.
At the bottom of the ranking in America, Cuba (168th), Nicaragua (163rd) and Venezuela (156th) remain, countries where “journalism is subject to censorship based on arbitrary decisions”.
But not everything is negative in Latin America: the situation is improving in Chile, which climbs 31 places to rank 52nd, and in Brazil, which climbs ten places to reach 82nd place. “Political will can allow for better guarantees” for the media, declared RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé.
The case of Colombia In this year’s ranking, Colombia occupies 119th place, which represents an improvement of 20 places compared to the previous year, when it was ranked 139th.
Haiti
Haitian journalists suffer from a severe lack of financial resources, an absence of institutional support and difficulty accessing information. Since 2021, they have also been targeted by gangs and are often victims of threats, attacks, kidnappings or assassinations with complete impunity.
Since the fall of Ariel Henry’s government in March 2024, journalists have been caught between a wave of widespread violence and the social, economic and political crisis.
However, according to the regional director of RSF, the improvement in the country’s ranking must be nuanced because it is mainly due to the fall in positions suffered by other nations in the region and in the world. The country, in fact, remains on the list of those whose situation is considered “difficult” on a journalistic level.
At the global level, the report highlights that the conditions for practicing journalism are poor in three quarters of countries.
He also particularly denounces “the manifest absence of political will of the international community to apply the principles of protection of journalists” in the Gaza war.
The study also warns of “a worrying deterioration in support and respect for media autonomy” in the year 2024, which “is the most important election year in world history”. Nearly half of the world’s population is going to the polls this year, from India and the United States to Mexico and Venezuela, which suggests new “very strong pressures”.
