Top marks for SA's press freedom
8 June 2005
South Africa's press is not only the most free in Africa, it's also less restricted than any press in Asia, Australasia, the Middle East or South America.
This is according to the third annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders and released on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.
In a review of 167 countries, Reporters Without Borders' 2004 index rates South Africa's press as the 26th most free in the world - beating such countries as the United Kingdom (28th), Greece (33rd), Italy and Spain (tied at 39th), Australia (41st) and Japan (42nd).
The index - covering the period from 1 September 2003 to 1 September 2004 - reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.
The only developing countries to earn a better score than South Africa are the Caribbean states of Trinidad and Tobago (tied
at 11th with Estonia, Germany and Sweden) and Jamaica (24th).
Europe best, East Asia worst
Countries in the top 50 - which include neighbouring Namibia in 42th place and Botswana at 50th - are said to have "genuine press freedom".
The greatest press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders, is found in Europe. First place in the ranking is jointly held by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland.
The highest-ranked North American country is Canada at 18th, followed by the US tied at 22nd with Belgium.
According to the survey, press freedom is threatened most in East Asia - with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd - and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is ranked 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th and Iraq 148th.
In these countries, according to Reporters Without Borders, an independent
media either does not exist or journalists are constantly persecuted and censored. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed.
Improvements in Africa
Other African countries to appear high on the list are Benin (27th), Cape Verde (38th), Namibia (42nd), Mauritius (46th), Botswana (50th), Mali (56th) and Ghana (57th).
There have been noticeable improvements in African press freedom. Togo (75th) rose 20 places in the 2004 ranking after putting a stop to the many arbitrary arrests of journalists and decriminalising press offences. Angola (91st) continues its slow climb after a quarter-century of war in which many journalists were killed.
How the index is compiled
Reporters Without Borders compiles its index by asking 14 freedom of expression organisations on five continents, 130 correspondents around the world, as well as journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights
activists, to answer 52 questions relating to the state of press freedom in 167 countries.
The questionnaire includes every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news media (censorship, confiscation of issues, searches and harassment), and registers the degree of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for such violations.
It also takes account of the legal situation affecting the news media - such as penalties for press offences, the existence of a state monopoly in certain areas, and the existence of a regulatory body - and the behaviour of the authorities towards the state-owned news media and the foreign press.
It also takes account of the main obstacles to the free flow of information on the internet.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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