Report: "negative trends" in Balkan media freedom

29/06/2009

Freedom of the press spiraled down across the globe last year, according to a recent report, with Eastern Europe seeing the steepest decline.

(Dnevnik.bg - 06/05/09; Zaman - 04/05/09; Sofia Echo - 03/05/09; VOA, RFE/RL, SNA, B92, MIA - 02/05/09; Freedom House, AP, CNN - 01/05/09; AFP - 30/04/09)

Freedom House released its annual media survey in May. [Freedom House]

Pointing to the economic crisis as a main catalyst, a new Freedom House report shows that freedom of the press slid for the seventh straight year in 2008. "The journalism profession today is up against the ropes and fighting to stay alive, as pressures from governments, other powerful actors and the global economic crisis take an enormous toll," Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor said.

"The press is democracy's first defence and its vulnerability has enormous implications for democracy if journalists are not able to carry out their traditional watchdog role."

This year's survey, which was released in May, assessed 195 countries and territories on the basis of 23 methodology questions in thee broad categories: legal, economic and political environment. Countries are given a score from 0 (best) to 100 (worst), which determines their classification as "free" (1-30 points), "partly free" (31-60), or "not free" (61-100).

About 36%, or 70 of the 195 countries, accounting for 17% of the world’s inhabitants, were rated as "free", down from 72 last year. The number of those classified as "partly free" rose to 61, or 31%, from 59 in the 2008 survey, while the group of "not free" was steady at 64 nations, or 33%.

All significant point changes in Balkan countries in 2008 were negative -- the Central and Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union region saw the biggest drop in media freedom worldwide, the organisation noted, citing trends in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria and Croatia.

"Several countries in the Balkans, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Croatia, showed negative trends due to increased physical threats and the harassment of journalists," the report said.

"Both Bulgaria and Croatia suffered rare murders of media workers, while the general level of intimidation and violence rose in all three countries."

Georgi Stoev, a former gangland member turned columnist and author of a series of books on organised crime in Bulgaria, was shot dead in broad daylight in one of the busiest parts of Sofia last year. His murder remains unresolved. Last September, Ognyan Stefanov editor of the Frog News website, was savagely beaten into a three-day coma. None of the assailants have been identified.

A woman carries a picture of Georgi Stoev, known as the chronicler of the underworld, at his funeral in Sofia last year. [Getty Images]

"Impunity for past crimes against journalists was noted as a growing concern in Bulgaria…"

Another prominent watchdog concluded earlier this year that press freedom had "worsened considerably" since Bulgaria joined the EU two years ago, referring to incidents of intimidation against investigative journalists and the overall climate of the media sector in the country.

"Bulgaria has evolved from a strong communist regime to a modern feudalism, but without any real change of actors," Reporters without Borders, a Paris-based NGO that promotes freedom of the press, reported last February.

Bulgaria ranked 76th on the index with 36 points, up from 33 last year.

A couple of spots down, Croatia came in at 81st place with 38 points, due to its "negative trends".

Ivo Pukanic, owner of Croatia's leading weekly Nacional, was killed when a car bomb exploded in Zagreb in October 2008. The newspaper's marketing director, Niko Franjic, also died in the incident. An investigation has led to the arrest of several suspects, including Serbian underworld boss Sreten Jocic.

BiH scored a 47, two points higher than last year, bringing the country in at 98th place. The increased score is due to "Republika Srpska authorities exerting increasing political control over media outlets," the report said.

Several Balkan countries remained unchanged in points since last year, including Macedonia (47) ranking 98th, Serbia (39) ranking 83rd, Romania (44) ranking 92nd alongside Ecuador, Panama and Peru, and Albania (50) ranking 101st.

Turkey and Montenegro both scaled back a point, signalling a slight improvement.

Cyprus is one of only two Balkan countries considered to have "free" media. The other is Greece. [Getty Images]

Montenegro's total score of 37, just one point higher than Bulgaria's, placed the country at 78th in the global ranking along with Botswana and East Timor.

Cyprus and Greece remained the only Southeast European countries to be classified as "free". Cyprus retained a total score of 22 points, taking the 38th position between Australia, Dominica, France and Malta.

With an overall mark of 29, down from 27 in the 2008 index, Greece shared 63rd place with Chile and Samoa.

With a score of nine, Iceland ranked number one in the organisation's 2009 Freedom of the Press index. Finland and Norway came in at a close second with 10 points each. Seven other Western European nations made it to the top ten: Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra, Netherlands and Switzerland, respectively.

Turkmenistan, Burma and North Korea emerged again as the world's three worst-rated countries.

The eight-page study was released ahead of Press Freedom Day on May 3rd along with the press freedom index, and other tables, charts and analysis. Individual surveys of the 195 countries are expected to be published later this year.