![]() ![]() "These are verbal attacks on journalists, threats to change libel laws, threats against individual media outlets. "The kinds of attacks that we're seeing from the Trump administration are new and are very worrying," she said. ![]() has in the past stood as the protector of free speech, that history is under threat. "But we're also seeing this in democracies around the world, in India and Israel … and also here in the United States," Repucci said, adding while the U.S. Leaders in both countries "had great success in snuffing out critical journalism by consolidating media ownership in the hands of their cronies, ensuring that the outlets with the widest reach support the government and smear their perceived opponents," the report said. Repucci, the report’s lead author, said countries such as Hungary and Serbia "dropped to 'partly free' in our freedom in the world survey and have been at the forefront of new tactics for repressing the media." But a disturbing trend showed that in Europe, where four out of every five countries are "free," average press freedom scores dropped 8%. The report found that a total of 16 nations designated as "free" have seen a reduction in press freedom scores during the past five years. The report assesses the degree of media freedom as either "free," "partly free" or "not free."įreedom House characterizes a free press as a media environment where coverage of political news is robust, state intrusion in media affairs in minimal, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, and the press is not subject to legal and economic pressures. The White House did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. Journalists around the world now have less reason to believe that Washington will come to their aid if their basic rights are violated." has a strong press protections, the report says, "President Trump’s public stance on press freedom has had a tangible impact on the global landscape. "Although key news organizations remain strong and continue to produce vigorous reporting on those in office, President Donald Trump’s continual vilification of the press has seriously exacerbated an ongoing erosion of public confidence in the mainstream media," the report says. The report blames President Donald Trump for helping worsen the press freedom environment in the U.S. But, on the other hand, the report found democratically elected leaders who use new tactics to "manipulate the media in ways that are very subtle that enable them to take control of the message that is getting to the population." ![]() On one hand, regimes that are known to stifle the press are continuing with "very familiar tactics: arrests of journalists, threats to their safety, repressive laws, defamation laws that criminalize free speech," she said. ![]() Sarah Repucci, senior director for research and analysis at Freedom House, told VOA that the report found declining press freedoms at "two ends of the spectrum." The reports finds press freedoms have been deteriorating across the world with "new forms of repression taking hold in open societies and authoritarian states alike." In its annual report released Wednesday, the nongovernmental group says global press freedom fell to its lowest point in more than a decade due to continued crackdowns on independent media in authoritarian states and unprecedented threats to journalists in traditionally free societies. The U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House says press freedom is declining around the world, right alongside political rights and civil liberties. ![]()
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