Partly free press in Romania, says Freedom House report

Newsroom 05/05/2014 | 11:27

Romania has a partly free press in 2014 according to the Freedom House report, ranking 41 points out of 100, a phenomena available in the south-east region of Europe, while Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia have the same indicator.

Global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, according to a Freedom House report released on May 1. The decline was driven in part by major regression in several Middle Eastern states, including Egypt, Libya, and Jordan; marked setbacks in Turkey, Ukraine, and a number of countries in East Africa; and deterioration in the relatively open media environment of the United States.

The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden were rated the world’s top-performing countries. Significant decline took place in Turkey, which fell into the Not Free category, as well as in Greece, Montenegro, and the United Kingdom.

Report says that of the 197 countries and territories assessed during 2013, a total of 63 (32 percent) were rated Free, 68 (35 percent) were rated Partly Free, and 66 (33 percent) were rated Not Free. Triggers for country declines included governments’ overt attempts to control the news—whether through the physical harassment of journalists covering protest movements or other sensitive stories, restrictions on foreign reporters, or tightened constraints on online news outlets and social media—as well as the role of owners in shaping media content through directives on coverage or dismissals of outspoken journalists.

More information about this report, here.