Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2010

Press Freedom Index 2010

The 15 countries with worse press freedoms according to Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2010 out of 178 countries. ranked in order from worse to least worse. Eritrea was the worse below is the rest of the lousy 15:

178. Eritrea
177. North Korea
176. Turkmenistan
175. Iran
174. Burma
173. Syria
172. Sudan
171. China
170. Yemen
169. Rwanda
168. Laos
167. Equatorial Guinea
166. Cuba
165. Vietnam
164. Tunisia

The only Latin American country to make the bottom 15 was Cuba at #166 . The country with the most press freedom in 2010 was Finland at #1 with the United States ranking 20th just after the United Kingdom.

Ten countries where it is not good to be a journalist

In recent years, Reporters Without Borders drew particular attention to the three countries that were always in the last three positions – Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan. This year, a bigger group of ten countries – marked by persecution of the media and a complete lack of news and information – are clumped together at the bottom. The press freedom situation keeps on deteriorating in these countries and it is getting harder to say which is worse than the other. The difference between the scores of the “best” and worst of the last 10 countries was only 24.5 points this year. It was 37.5 points in 2009 and 43.25 points in 2007.

It is worth noting that, for the first time since the start of the index in 2002, Cuba is not one of the 10 last countries. This is due above all to the release of 14 journalists and 22 activists in the course of the past summer. But the situation on the ground has not changed significantly. Political dissidents and independent journalists still have to deal with censorship and repression on a daily basis.

Freedom is not allowed any space in Burma, where a parliamentary election is due to be held next month, and the rare attempts to provide news or information are met with imprisonment and forced labor.

Finally, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Mexico, countries either openly at war or in a civil war or some other kind of internal conflict, we see a situation of permanent chaos and a culture of violence and impunity taking root in which the press has become a favorite target. These are among the most dangerous countries in the world, and the belligerents there pick directly on reporters such as French TV journalists Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, who have been held hostage in Afghanistan for the past 300 days.