Press Freedom in Democracies in Danger - Switzerland Among Top Ten
Attacks on the media have become commonplace, according to Reporters Without Borders. Although Europe is the region of the world where the media is freest, it was there that the greatest violations of press freedom occurred last year.
In the 2017 international press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders (ROG), Norway takes the top spot; Switzerland is in 7th place, as it was the previous year. ROG assesses press freedom in Switzerland as good and stable overall. The organization also welcomed Switzerland's support for the creation of a mandate for a special representative of the UN Secretary-General for the safety of journalists. Federal Councilor Didier Burkhalter had promised ROG Switzerland in a letter in April.
Precarious economic situation
Among the negative trends in Switzerland, ROG cites the precarious economic situation of many press titles, the increasing concentration of media ownership and the lack of investigative journalism. In addition, the organization noted an increase in public reports and sponsored content, which could harm the independence of reporting. The assessment relates to 2016, and does not yet take into account the discontinuation of the weekly magazine L'Hebdo and Schweiz am Sonntag.
ROG also expressed concern about the development of the principle of publicity in Switzerland. This instrument for journalistic research has not yet been implemented satisfactorily in all cantons. And the restrictions on the publicity law planned by the Federal Council are not justified, it said. ROG Switzerland also expects the Council of States to delete Article 293 of the Criminal Code, which makes "publications of official secret proceedings" a punishable offense, and not to adopt the position of the National Council, which wants to retain it in a slightly toned-down version.
Erosion of press freedom
According to ROG, there is a danger of a negative turn in press freedom especially in leading democracies. Contributing to this are "surveillance obsessions" and violations of source protection. Donald Trump's rise to power in the U.S. and the Brexit campaign in the U.K. were marked by media bashing. "There is no democracy without freedom of information," Gérard Tschopp, president of Reporters Without Borders Switzerland, told media in Bern on Tuesday. Under the pretext of security, he said, laws restricting press freedom have been introduced in the United Kingdom, France and Canada, for example. In Europe, the ratio for restrictions and violations of press freedom shows the largest increase of 3.8 percent last year. By comparison: In Asia, it increased by only 0.9 percent over the same period.
Scandinavia at the top
In the current ranking, some of the countries traditionally ranked far ahead have also fallen back. After six years at the top, Finland (3rd place) has lost its position due to political pressure on the media. The Netherlands (5th place) has lost three places. However, the Scandinavian countries remain at the top of the ranking - Norway (1), Sweden (2) Finland (3) and Denmark (4). After the attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last July, Turkey (155th place/-4th) also moved into the camp of authoritarian regimes. It is now the country where the most media professionals are imprisoned.
According to the ranking, press freedom is worst in the dictatorships of Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea. They landed in the last three places of the 180 countries. Also far behind is Syria (177th place), whose ongoing war has made the country the deadliest for media workers. They are attacked there by both the regime and jihadist groups.
Reporters Without Borders' press freedom ranking is based on a survey that covers, among other things, media diversity, media independence, the legal framework, and the safety of media professionals in 180 countries. (SDA)
