"For the first time in the history of the press freedom index, the global situation for press freedom is classified as 'difficult', as it is considered that 'a red line has been crossed'."
The reason is partly economic. For example, in the USA, the shutdown of media outlets in many areas means that large regions are "transformed into news deserts". And attracting new talent to media professions becomes even more difficult when a majority of those surveyed in the industry in several states respond that it is "hard to live on the salary as a journalist".
With difficulty
The shift in power when Donald Trump became president again affects also outside the country's borders. Trump is trying to cut the funding to, among others, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, with news broadcasts to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Even the aid agency USAID, which the president is trying to shut down, affects the funding for media in, for example, Ukraine.
In nearly 90 percent of the 180 countries covered by the index, media achieve financial stability "with difficulty" or "not at all".
"Free press cannot exist without economic independence", comments Anne Bocandé, editorial director at RSF.
"When news media are economically strained, they are drawn into a race to attract an audience at the expense of quality reporting, and can become victims of oligarchs and public authorities who try to exploit them".
Sweden downgraded
The poor economy is explained, among other things, by the fact that the advertising revenue that previously went to media houses now instead ends up with social media giants. Last year, advertising revenue to social media increased globally by 14%, to 247.3 billion dollars (around 2,750 billion kronor with the exchange rate at the turn of the year), according to RSF.
The index is based on five different indicators, and only one country gets the grade "good" in all five – Norway. The Nordic country thus tops the world index, followed by Estonia in second place. In third place, the Netherlands is found this year, thereby pushing Sweden down to four.
