Why in news?
The latest survey of the global body, Reporters Without Borders, that shows India dropping two places on the global press freedom index ranking to 142nd place in the list of 180 countries.
India’s neighbours — Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka — are ranked higher in the list.
Claims and details on India’s Press Freedom in the report
- The report on “’The World Press Freedom Index 2020”, which was released on April 22, said that with no murders of journalists in India in 2019, as against six in 2018, the security situation for the country’s media might seem, on the face of it, to have improved.
- However, there have been constant press freedom violations, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.
- In 2010, India was ranked 122, which has been steadily declining.
- Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fourth year running.
- China at 177, is just three places above North Korea, which is at 180.
Press Freedom Index
- The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organisation’s own assessment of the countries’ press freedom records in the previous year.
- It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
- The index only deals with press freedom and does not measure the quality of journalism nor does it look at human rights violations in general.
Reporters Without Borders
- Reporters Without Borders, also known as Reporters sans frontières (RSF), is a leading international non-profit and non-governmental organization that safeguards the right to freedom of information.
- Its mandate is to promote free, independent and pluralistic journalism and to defend media workers.
- RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.
