Norway has topped annual press freedom index 2020 for the fourth consecutive year while Finland retained its second place. The index was released by Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) on April 20, 2020.
India ranks 142
India has been ranked at 142, down two place from previous year (140). The report says 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.”
About Press Freedom Index
The index is Published every year for almost two decades. It rates 180 countries and territories based on “the level of pluralism, media independence, self-censorship, legal framework, and transparency,” according to RSF.
Process: The results are “calculated from responses to a questionnaire that is completed by experts throughout the world, supported by a qualitative analysis.”
North Korea at 180: North Korea dropped to last place in the table, usurping Turkmenistan, while Eritrea, which lies in 178th, is still the county with the least press freedom in Africa. Both China, 177th, and Iran, down three to 173rd, censored their COVID-19 outbreaks “extensively.”
