The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Torn apart by a civil war, South Sudan has had a precarious environment for journalists where 11 of them have been killed since 2011 when the country attained independence. RWB says the media has been silenced by government forces when it comes to reporting about the conflict. South Sudan’s ranking on the world press freedom index fell from 140 to 145.
Although it climbed two places from the position it had last year, Rwanda needs to make its media environment less repressive, Reporters Without Borders notes. “Despite a new media law in 2010 and efforts to develop Internet connections throughout the country, censorship and self-censorship are ubiquitous in Rwanda.”
RWB says the country uses the 1994 genocide to blackmail critical media as “divisionist”. In 2015, the Rwandan government banned BBC radio broadcasting in the local Kinyarwanda language after a BBC documentary report on genocide.
The report describes Burundi as a country with no media freedom since most independent radio stations have remained closed since the 2015 coup attempt against President Pierre Nkurunziza as more government propaganda outlets have been created to fill the void.
‘Journalism eroded by democracy’s erosion’
The latest World Media Freedom Index paints a grim picture of the state of media freedom around the world. According to the statement by RWB, democracies have been falling in the index and nothing seems to be checking the decline. “Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States and the Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom were marked by high-profile media bashing, a highly toxic anti-media discourse that drove the world into a new era of post-truth, disinformation, and fake news.”
Nordic countries stand out
The first four nations on the World Press Freedom Index are Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark- Nordic countries. Although Finland has surrendered its position at No 1 after six years, it still maintains its presence among the top 4, occupying no 3 this year. Sweden moved up six places to take second position at the index.
RWB describes the state of media freedom in Norway as “faultless”. It adds “Today, the media are free and journalists are not subject to censorship or political pressure. Violence against journalists and media is rare, although some have been threatened by Islamist fundamentalists in recent years.”
The index also hails a media law in Norway, adopted in 1997, which bans leading media groups from owning more than 40% of the shares in any TV station, radio station, or newspaper.
At the other end of the index, North Korea has dislodged Eritrea, which occupied the position since 2017. RWB states that Eritrea moved from 180 to 179 after allowing closely-monitored foreign media crews into the country. The other three in the bottom in the positions of 176-178 are China, Syria and Turkmenistan.
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