Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders has released its 25th World Press Freedom Index at a time when political pressure on the press is intensifying, authoritarian tendencies are growing and the media market is heavily weakened. In 2026, the Index’s analysis highlights an alarming deterioration in the conditions for journalism in many parts of the world, despite some isolated improvements, as 100 out of 180 countries and territories have seen their press freedom score decline. 

Press freedom around the world is being threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors—political authorities. This is clear from the latest annual World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The 2019 World Press Freedom Index Compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear.

The 2018 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), reflects growing animosity towards journalists.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is releasing its annual round-up of violence and abuses against journalists throughout the world. A total of 65 journalists were killed in 2017, 326 are currently in prison, and 54 are held hostage. The 65 journalists who were killed were either fatally injured in the course of their work (for example, in an artillery bombardment) or were murdered because their reporting angered someone. The murdered reporters were the majority – 60% of the total figure.

The 2017 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), shows that violations of the freedom to inform are less and less the prerogative of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships. Once taken for granted, media freedom is proving to be increasingly fragile in democracies as well. In sickening statements, draconian laws, conflicts of interest, and even the use of physical violence, democratic governments are trampling on a freedom that should, in principle, be one of their leading performance indicators. In the span of just a year, the number of countries where the state of the media is considered “good” or “fairly good” has fallen by 2.3%. Countries regarded as model democracies are no exceptions.

The United States’ ranking for press freedom declined in 2017, driven in part by Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media, which also triggered a decline in other democracies. Reporters Without Borders, which compiles the World Press Freedom Index based on its assessment of the legal environment and government threats to journalists, ranked the United States 43rd out of 180 nations. It finished two spots lower than a year ago, ranking just behind Burkina Faso and just ahead of Comoros. “The election of the 45th president of the United States set off a witchhunt against journalists,” the group said in an analysis of its data. “Donald Trump’s repeated diatribes against the Fourth Estate and its representatives — accusing them of being ‘among the most dishonest human beings on earth’ and of deliberately spreading ‘fake news’ — compromise a long US tradition of defending freedom of expression.”