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Reporters Without Borders has released the 2005
World Press Freedom Index report ranking 167
countries according to the level of freedom of the
press. Turkey has been ranked 98th, fifteen places
higher than last year.
BIA (Paris) - The Paris-based international
organization Reporters Without Borders has released
its annual report ranking countries according to the
level of freedom of the press.
Of the 167 countries ranked in the2005 World Press
Freedom Index, Turkey has risen to 98th place, 15
places higher than its ranking last year of 113. In
2003, it ranked 116th.
In spite of the new Penal Law that went into effect
on 1 June, which has been criticized by many
journalists, Turkey's position in the rankings has
improved because of a reduction in the number of
infringements of press freedom since last year.
However, prosecutions of journalists and publishers
continue, as recent court decisions against
journalist Hrant Dink and the staff of the newspaper
Cumhuriyet demonstrate.
The report noted that although the top ten countries
are in Europe, some Western democracies have slid
backwards in the arena of press freedom.
The United States fell more than twenty places due
to the imprisonment of New York Times journalist
Judith Miller and the increasing judicial pressure
on confidentiality of sources.
The US is ranked 44th overall, but US authorities in
Iraq received a much lower ranking of 137th. Canada
also moved downwards due to similar judicial
decisions infringing on confidentiality.
Slovakia (7th), Czech Rep.(8th), Poland (53rd),
Spain (40th), and Italy (42nd) had much lower
rankings than many other EU members, many of which
were in the top twenty places. Among other countries
that are candidates for European Union membership,
Croatia ranked 56th and Romania 70th.
The report named North Korea, Turkmenistan, and
Eritrea as the three worst countries for press
freedom, and noted that on a regional scale, East
Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East had the
lowest press freedom rankings.
However, it applauded the fact that many countries
in Africa and Latin America were rising in the
index, such as Benin and Namibia, both at 25th
place, and Trinidad and Tobago at 12th place.
The index also shows that many countries that have
recently won independence from freedom or
authoritarian government are high in the rankings,
as are many impoverished countries, making it clear
that a long history of democracy and a high level of
economic wealth are not necessary conditions for
press freedom.
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