Not so long ago Freedom House published its report called “Freedom of the Press 2012”. According to it, 197 countries of the world are divided into 3 groups: free, partially free and not free. Lets’ find out how objective this rating is.
The countries with free mass media
According to experts, the Top 10 belong to Northern and Central Europe:
· Finland
· Norway
· Sweden
· Belgium
· Denmark
· Luxembourg
· Netherlands
· Switzerland
· Andorra
· Iceland
Germany is number 16th.
The real sensation of Freedom House’s rating is that the USA went down from number 17 down to number 22. They say this is the result of the latest economic crisis.
The countries with partially free mass media
It is worth paying attention to the fact that Hungary has entered the group with partially free mass media for the first time. Italy and Balkan states are in the mentioned group as well. After Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation, Italy improved its standing a little. However, his influence on the Italian mass media is still great.
According to Eugene Olkhovsky, ’s leading expert from Canada, Hungary’s standing in the rating deteriorated after the Hungarian government tried to establish control over the local mass media.
The countries with not-free mass media
The world’s most biased mass media belong to the CIS, Asian and African states:
Tajikistan (171)
Azerbaijan, Russia, Zimbabwe (172)
Kazakhstan, Ethiopia (175)
Uzbekistan (195)
Turkmenistan (196)
North Korea is the last one (197)
Expert opinion on “Freedom of the Press 2012”
Strange as it may seem, but Russia shares the 172th place with Zimbabwe. The Kremlin’s critics question the methodology of the rating. Obviously, there are tensions between the ruling party and the opposition. However, the political situation in Russia is obviously much better than in war-torn African countries like Sudan. But for some reason, Sudan is number 170. Libya’s mass media are hardly free (132) but Freedom House believes that the situation in Belarus is even worse (173).
Like Russia and Belarus, Middle and Central Asian countries traditionally occupy some of the last standings in Freedom House’s rating. Tajikistan is number 171, Azerbaijan is 172, Kazakhstan is 175, Uzbekistan is 195, Turkmenistan is 196.
Freedom of the Press 2012: the biggest losers
Freedom House’s main message is that the situation with the freedom of the press around the world has seen some improvements and no major negative changes. In particular, Russia improved its standing by one step after increasing the amount of satellite internet and TV users.
Out of the 197 countries overviewed in “Freedom of the Press 2012”, 66 countries (14.5% of the global population) were rated “free”. Other 72 countries (45% of the global population) were rated “partially free”. The remaining 52 countries (40.5%) were recognized “not free” as far as the freedom of the press is considered.
The biggest improvement in the freedom of the press last year was seen in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia: Tunis, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Zambia, Burma, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand.
Hungary, Chile and Guyana found themselves among the “partially free” group. The situation deteriorated in Macedonia, Ukraine, Ecuador, Malawi and Uganda, Georgia, Kosovo and Montenegro .
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