Media

Press freedom under pressure in South Africa

Staff Writer

 ·20 Apr 2016

South Africa has been ranked 39th in the world for press freedom, according to the latest Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.

The country’s position in the ranking is unchanged from 2015, though the overall press freedom score has deteriorated marginally over the past year.

The index is based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists in 180 countries.

According to Reporters Without Borders, South Africa’s constitution protects a “very diverse media” – but laws dating back to the apartheid era and the 2004 anti-terrorism laws are used to limit coverage.

These laws are used particularly in coverage of institutions in which “national interest” is supposedly at stake, the group said.

“Erosion of a degree of media freedom has been seen in the ban on talking about the president’s lavish expenses and in the hostile reactions from the authorities to articles about the ruling ANC,” it said.

The group also noted an increase in the use of police violence, especially to get reporters to delete photos of heavy-handed arrests.

Best and worst countries for media freedom

Tension between governments and media

The report shows a bleaker overall picture for media freedom on a global scale from recent years, with a climate of fear and tension creeping in, combined with increasing control over newsrooms by governments and private-sector interests.

“It is unfortunately clear that many of the world’s leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism,” said RSF secretary-general, Christophe Deloire.

“The climate of fear results in a growing aversion to debate and pluralism, a clampdown on the media by ever more authoritarian and oppressive governments, and reporting in the privately-owned media that is increasingly shaped by personal interests.”

Europe (with 19.8 points) still has the freest media, followed by Africa (36.9), which for the first time has overtaken the Americas (37.1), a region where violence against journalists is on the rise, the report said.

Asia (43.8) and Eastern Europe/Central Asia (48.4) follow, while North Africa/Middle East (50.8) is still the region where journalists are most subjected to constraints of every kind.

Three north European countries head the rankings. They are Finland (ranked 1st, the position it has held since 2010), Netherlands (2nd, up 2 places) and Norway (3rd, down 1).

The countries that fell hardest include Poland (47th, down 29), where the ultra-conservative government seized control of the public media, and (much farther down) Tajikistan, which plunged 34 places to 150th as a result of the regime’s growing authoritarianism.

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