European media under attack from politicians, Reporters Without Borders sounds the alarm

6 months ago 29

Politicians are the main threat to media freedom in Europe, with a third of member states being labelled as ‘problematic’ and even the ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory’ countries seeing their scores drop, according to Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index 2024, published on Friday.

The report, which examined media freedom and journalistic rights worldwide, found that in Europe, “politicians are trying to reduce the space for independent journalism.”

It specifically called out “Hungary’s pro-Kremlin prime minister Viktor Orban and his counterpart in Slovakia, Robert Fico”, as well as “the ruling parties in Hungary (67th), Malta (73rd) and Greece (88th), the EU’s three worst-ranked countries.”

Greece took the worst position in the European Union for the third year in a row due to several factors, including the unsolved murders of two journalists, Sokratis Giolias and Giorgos Karaivaz, as well as spyware scandals and political attacks on critical media.

Italy, ruled by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also performed badly, falling five places to 46th. This was due to “a member of the ruling parliamentary coalition” trying to acquire the second-biggest news agency (AGI).

It also singled out France and the UK, calling for “vigilance” due to the arrest of French journalist Ariana Lavrilleux by French authorities and the continuing detention of Julian Assange by British authorities.

Political threats

With EU elections just a few weeks away and half the world’s population set to partake in local or national elections this year, RSF warns of a concerning trend: the decline of the political indicator in the index.

“States and other political forces are playing a decreasing role in protecting press freedom. This disempowerment sometimes goes hand in hand with more hostile actions that undermine the role of journalists or even instrumentalise the media through campaigns of harassment or disinformation,” Anne Bocande, RSF’s editorial director, said.

RSF also called out the lack of protection for journalists in the war in Gaza, noting more than 100 Palestinian reporters killed by the Israel Defence Forces.

This year’s report nodded to technology, highlighting the risks that generative AI and deepfakes can pose to democracy and elections.

“This was evidenced by the audio deepfake of the journalist Monika Todova during the parliamentary elections in Slovakia (down 12 at 29th), one of the first documented cases of this kind of attack on a journalist to influence the outcome of a democratic election,” the report said.

Among the bad news, a handful of countries registered an improvement, including Poland, which increased ten places to 47th and Bulgaria, which increased 12 places to 59th. This, the report said, was “thanks to new governments with more concern for the right to information”.

Germany also shifted into the top ten best performers, improving its political indicators as there was a reported decline in attacks on media workers from the far right.

Trouble in the east

As for EU hopefuls, Albania fell to 99th place, a drop of three places and 3.76 points, mainly due to the murder of a TV station security guard, Pal Kola, in March 2023, which is still unsolved.

However, issues such as conflict of interest of media owners, political pressure, insufficient legal frameworks and self-censorship also contributed.

Elsewhere in the Western Balkans, North Macedonia increased by two places to 36, while Montenegro fell by one, Kosovo by 19, Bosnia and Herzegovina by 17, and Serbia by seven.

“In Serbia, the ruling party and the pro-government outlets have stepped up the attacks on independent journalism. In the context of the tensions with Serbia, journalists in Kosovo have suffered numerous physical assaults,” the report notes.

Serbia and Albania rank last out of all EU candidate countries.

“Russian propaganda also threatens Trustworthy information in the Western Balkans, while the integration into the European Union—which now has the European Media Freedom Act—remains an opportunity for positive development,” it notes.

Meanwhile, Georgia fell 25 places to 103rd as “its ruling party continues to polarise society” and “cultivates a rapprochement with Moscow”, while Ukraine rose 18 places due to fewer journalists being killed and a decrease in political interference in the press.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)