Paris: Medical watchdog Reporters Without Borders released its annual global ranking on Friday, warning that government support for press freedom is declining and listing Argentina among countries where the situation has worsened.
Norway retained the top position, while Eritrea was followed by last year’s lowest ranked country, North Korea.
Among the most significant declines are Afghanistan (down 26 places to 178), Togo (down from 43 to 113) and Ecuador (down from 30 to 110).
The bottom 10 countries include China, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea.
But the French watchdog, known by its acronym RSF, has warned that politicians in some countries are targeting the media.
“Some political groups incite hatred and mistrust by insulting, discrediting and threatening journalists,” he said. “Others plan to take over the media ecosystem.”
It dropped Argentina under the newly elected President Javier Miley from 26th place to 66th, and Telam said the decision to close the public media service is a “symbolic act of concern”.
He also drew attention to Italy under Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who is trying to take over the AGI news agency, a member of his coalition.
Respondents in three-quarters of the countries (138) reported that political actors often engage in disinformation and propaganda, and this was consistent across 31 countries.
RSF said there are “striking parallels in Russian repression” in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, extending to Serbia, where “pro-government media outlets carry Russian propaganda and authorities threaten to exile Russian journalists”.
The most difficult region remains the Middle East and North Africa, where the situation is “very serious” in almost half of the countries, and Qatar is the only country that does not currently rate the situation as “difficult” or “serious”.
Europe is the only region that includes countries that are considered “good”.
Greece is the worst in Europe (88th overall), below Hungary and Poland.
Despite the increase in his account, he was criticized for his handling of the scandal surrounding the 2021 murder of veteran crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz by the Greek intelligence service.
Now 22 years, the RSF report is based on reports of abuses against journalists by groups and questionnaires sent to experts, researchers and law enforcement.
States doing less to support press freedom: watchdog
