RSF moves Ukraine up 18 points in the press freedom index
Ukraine moved up 18 positions in the 2024 Press Freedom Index by the international human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), taking place 61 (in 2023, Ukraine ranked 79th).
The organization released the ranking on their website on May 3.
Ukraine has moved up, RSF notes, thanks to the improvements in the safety indicator (fewer journalists have been killed) and the political indicator.
RSF notes that the war launched by Russia on 24 February 2022 threatens the survival of the Ukrainian media, as Ukraine has to resist against Russian propaganda and its economy has been weakened.
"Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, journalists’s safety has been threatened more than ever. They are sometimes deliberately targeted by military fire despite displaying their “Press” identification, and the list of reporters injured or killed and media outlets badly damaged by airstrikes has continued to rise. ... Finally, cyberattacks, breaches of the confidentiality of sources and restriction on access to information are also matters of concern," the watchdog notes.
RSF also remarked that Ukraine's media landscape is diverse, but remains partly in the grip of oligarchs who own the majority of the national TV channels.
"The state has also become a central media actor since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The media sector is bearing the brunt of the impact of the Russian invasion, disrupting the work of newsrooms and even jeopardising their economic survival. In territories under Russian control – Crimea, annexed in 2014, along with Donbass and areas occupied by the Russian army in 2022 – the Ukrainian media is being silenced and replaced by Kremlin propaganda," the report reads.
The organization points out that the new media law that was adopted in late 2022 after years of preparation has brought Ukraine in line with European legislation, while the application of martial law sometimes results in reporting restrictions for journalists, especially on the frontline.
The director of the Institute of Mass Information, Oksana Romaniuk, said that she disagrees with RSF's assessment of the situation in Ukraine.
"We disagree with this assessment. Unfortunately, we did not see the situation in Ukraine improve in 2023. In our opinion, it was to the contrary: the freedom of speech situation in Ukraine began to deteriorate in 2023, as the state has started surveilling journalist investigators and information has become more difficult to access," she said.
Previously, Ukraine ranked 106th in 2022 and 97th in 2021.
Press freedom in the world
The first place in the Press Freedom Index still belongs to Norway, but the country has seen a decline in its political performance; it is followed by Denmark and then by Sweden (3rd place).
Eritrea, which now ranks last in both the political and overall rankings, has the 180th place.
Five countries have joined the ten most dangerous countries in the world for media workers: Myanmar (171st place), China (172nd place), North Korea (177th place), Vietnam (174th place), and Afghanistan (178th place).
All countries where press freedom is "good" are in Europe, specifically in the European Union, which passed its first Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
RSF remarks that press freedom around the world is being threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors – political authorities.
"A growing number of governments and political authorities are not fulfilling their role as guarantors of the best possible environment for journalism and for the public's right to reliable, independent, and diverse news and information. RSF sees a worrying decline in support and respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from the state or other political actors," the report reads.
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