PARIS (AP) – There has been a “dramatic deterioration” in freedom of the press since the pandemic began to rupture around the world, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report released Tuesday.
The group’s new World Press Freedom Index, which evaluated press situations in 180 countries, painted a grim picture and concluded that 73% of the world’s nations have serious problems with media freedoms.
It says countries have used the coronavirus pandemic, which broke out in China in late 2019, “as a reason to block journalists’ access to information, sources and field reporting.”
This is particularly the case in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the media group said.
“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” said RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire. “Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and sometimes even cultural factors. In response to the virality of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and through social media, journalism provides the most effective way to ensure that public debate is based on a wide variety of established facts. “
Problems have also arisen from a decline in public confidence in journalism itself. The group said 59% of those surveyed in 28 countries claimed that journalists “intentionally try to mislead the public by reporting information they know is false.”