Only a sixth of world’s population enjoys free media: study

Freedom of the press and the media have declined in several areas across the globe, according to the annual report released by Freedom House, an independent watchdog dedicated to expanding freedom around the world.

The release of the report on global press freedom comes ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Friday.

Just one out of six people across the globe enjoyed free press last year. Freedom House President David Kramer says the global decline in press freedom is a huge concern.

"A free press is critical to any country's democratic development. It acts as a check and balance. It acts as a check on corruption. It promotes transparency. It promotes good government, and so a free press is indispensable," Kramer said.

The report says the percentage of people enjoying a free media environment fell to its lowest point in more than a decade last year.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar, project director for Freedom House, said reasons for the deterioration included the continued, increasingly sophisticated repression of independent journalism and new media by authoritarian regimes; the ripple effects of the European economic crisis and longer-term challenges to the financial sustainability of print media; and ongoing threats from non-state actors such as radical Islamists and organised crime groups.

Mali, once Africa's freest media environment, suffered the year's biggest decline in press freedom. It slid from a "free press" nation to one of 70 "partly free" countries following a military coup and the capture of its northern half by Islamist militants.

In Europe, Greece also slid into the partly free category. Its economic troubles led to widespread staff cuts in the media and closures.

In the Middle East, Libya and Tunisia retained gains in press freedom won during the Arab Spring revolts. But in Egypt the media environment declined and is now described as unfree.

Karlekar said many factors are behind Egypt's decline. "Partly it was the new constitution, which was worrying in terms of the provisions for freedom of expression, the polarisation of the media after the president's election and the very high levels of attacks and harassment of journalists, particularly by Islamist groups," Karlekar said.

Despite the declines, the report noted improvement in some countries, including Burma.

"Compared to where it was two years ago, it has been a huge improvement, and so in that regard I would say it is a model for other repressive governments," Karlekar said.

The world's eight worst-rated countries for press freedom, dubbed the worst-of-the-worst, were: Belarus, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Independent media in these states are non-existent or barely able to operate.

Influential authoritarian states such as Russia and China, which have long used a variety of techniques to maintain a tight grip on the press – including detaining, jailing, or bringing legal charges against critics, as well as closing down or otherwise censoring media outlets – have also expanded their attempts to control content online, Karlekar said.