Philippines sinks further in 2014 World Press Freedom Index

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Philippines slid further down this year to 149th spot in the 179-country World Press Freedom Index released Wednesday by the France-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) or Reporters Without Borders.

In 2013, the country was on the 147th spot and in the 140th in 2011-2012. In 2010, the Philippines was far below at 156th place after the horrifying Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre where 58 were killed, 32 of whom were journalists. It was the world’s worst atrocity against journalists in history. The Philippines was on the 122nd place in 2009.

The yearly press freedom barometer being conducted by RSF since 2002 also sees “major declines in media freedom in such varied countries as the United States, Central African Republic and Guatemala while on the other hand “marked improvements in Ecuador, Bolivia and South Africa.” 

Like in the past year, the same trio of Finland, Netherlands and Norway head the index again this year, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea “continue to be the biggest information black holes, again occupying the last three positions.”

“The World Press Freedom Index is a reference tool based on the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure,” explained Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders.

The Index according to RSF, “makes governments face their responsibilities by providing civil society with an objective measure, and provides international bodies with a good governance indicator to guide their decisions.”

This year, the ranking of some countries, including democracies, has been impacted by an overly broad and abusive interpretation of the concept of national security protection, explained Luci Morillon, RSF head of reseach in the report.

“The index also reflects the negative impact of armed conflicts on freedom of information and its actors. The world’s most dangerous country for journalists, Syria, is ranked 177th out of 180 countries.”

RSF also cites that the index’s annual global indicator, which measures the overall level of violations of freedom of information in 180 countries year by year, has risen slightly. The indicator has gone from 3395 to 3456 points, a 1.8% rise. The level of violations is unchanged in the Asia-Pacific region, but has increased in Africa.

This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than the 179 countries covered in last year’s index. The newcomer is Belize, which has been ranked in the enviable position of 29th.

RSF said that the 2014 index emphasizes the negative correlation between armed conflicts and freedom of information. “In an unstable environment, the media become strategic goals or targets for groups or individuals trying to control news and information in violation of the guarantees enshrined in international conventions.”

Troubled Syria (177th) is rubbing shoulders with the last three countries in the index where 130 professional and citizen-journalists were reportedly killed in connection with the provision of news and information from March 2011 to December 2013.

Mali in Africa continued its fall and is now ranked 122nd while Central African Republic (109th) followed suit, falling 43 places. In Egypt (159th), President Morsi’s ouster by the army led by Al-Sisi freed those media that the Muslim Brotherhood had gagged ever since coming to power, but it marked the start of a witchhunt against journalists suspected of supporting the Brotherhood, the RSF cited.

Far from these conflicts, in countries where the rule of law prevails, security arguments are misused as grounds for restricting freedom of information.

RSF cited the United States (46th, sliding 13 places this year because, “the hunt for leaks and whistleblowers serves as a warning to those thinking of satisfying a public interest need for information about the imperial prerogatives assumed by the world’s leading power.”

The United Kingdom (33rd) sliding also three notches below has followed in the US wake, “distinguishing itself by its harassment of The Guardian.”

There are many examples of governments abusing the “fight against terrorism”, the RSF said citing Turkey (154th) where dozens of journalists have been detained on this pretext, above all those who cover the Kurdish issue.

In Israel (96th), which regained some of the places it lost in the previous index because of Operation Pillar of Defence’s impact on freedom of information, the territorial integrity imperative often suppresses freedom of information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In Sri Lanka (165th, also sliding two notches, the army shapes the news by suppressing accounts that stray too far from the official vision of 'pacification' in the former Tamil separatist strongholds.

But the biggest fall was in Central Africa Republic losing 43 places after a year “marked by extreme violence and repeated attacks and threats against journalists.”

Aside from the 13-place fall by the United States (46th, -13), Guatemala’s dizzying plunge (125th, -29) was due to a sharp decline in the safety of journalists, with four murders and twice as many attacks as the previous year.

In Kenya (90th, -18), the government’s much criticized authoritarian response to the media’s coverage of the Westgate Mall attack was compounded by dangerous parliamentary initiatives. Chad (139th) fell 17 places after distinguishing itself by abusive arrests and prosecutions in 2013.

Suffering from the effects of the economic crisis and a surge in populism, Greece (99th) fell 14 places.

Violence against journalists, direct censorship and misuse of judicial proceedings fell in Panama (87th, +25), Dominican Republic (68th, +13), Bolivia (94th, +16) and Ecuador (94th, +25), although in Ecuador the level of media polarization is still high and often detrimental to public debate.

Though the past year was marked by laudable legislative developments in some countries such as South Africa (42nd, +11), where the president refused to sign a law that would have threatened media freedom, RSF said.

While South Africa showed improvement, other countries regarded as regional models, RSF saw, “registered no progress or even significant declines."