Press Freedom Report
October 16, 2007
In Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) annual press freedom index, the international media watchdog gave 14 European countries the highest ranks, with Iceland, Norway and Estonia leading the way.
Germany improved its ranking from 23rd place in 2006 to 20th place in this year's index. Still, the Paris-based organization cited the influence advertising sources have on German media as negative. It also criticized changes in the German legal system, which make it harder for journalists and media to protect and ensure the anonymity of sources.
Some European journalists face threat of violence
The organization also pointed to German authorities' investigations of journalists accused of violating state secrecy laws, and criticized the danger posed to German journalists researching topics like neo-Nazism.
All of the European Union's 27 member countries made it in the top 50, except for Bulgaria and Poland, which placed 51st and 56th, respectively.
In Italy, which placed 35th, RSF said journalists continue to work under the threat of violence from mafia groups.
The organization also said that the Internet has become a major target of press freedom violations, with bloggers being arrested and news sites on the Web shut down.
"More and more governments have realized that the Internet can play a key role in the fight for democracy, and they are establishing new methods of censoring it," RSF said in a statement.
"Myanmar particularly worrying"
RSF said at least 64 people worldwide were being held under arrest for what they posted on the Internet, with the majority (50) of imprisoned cyber-dissidents and online journalists in China.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, placed 164th on the survey of 169 countries. The media watchdog said the country, which has been making headlines for weeks, was particularly worrying.
"The military junta's crackdown on demonstrations bodes ill for the future of basic freedoms in this country," the media watchdog said.
One Japanese journalist is known to have been killed in Myanmar's crackdown on protestors during demonstrations.
Two G8 nations in top 20
At the bottom of the annual index were Iran (166th), Turkmenistan (167th), North Korea (168th) and, finally, Eritrea (169th).
The United States placed 48th on the list, and only two of the Group of Eight most industrialized countries placed within the top 20 (Canada, 18th, and Germany). Other G8 members are Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.
RSF based this year's index on information from questionnaires sent to journalists, researchers, lawyers, freedom of expression organizations and human rights activists around the world.