Press Freedom Index: Bangladesh drops 4 places to its worst level in seven years

Bangladesh has dropped four steps on the Press Freedom Index for 2019 to rank 150th marking the country’s lowest placement in the rankings in seven years.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 19 April 2019, 07:13 AM
Updated : 19 April 2019, 07:13 AM

The index ranks 180 countries on the basis of the extent of freedom enjoyed by journalists.

The list is compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, or RSF.

An accompanying report was also released with the index.

It says that the Index unveiled on Thursday is indicative of how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear.

The report also notes a decline in the number of countries where journalists can work in complete security as governments continue to exert greater control over the media.

According to the index, Bangladesh lags behind all other South Asian nations in terms of press freedom and journalists’ rights.

On the issue of journalists’ security in the Asia Pacific region, the report terms the situation in Bangladesh as ‘worrying’, observing that “reporters covering protests and the election were the targets of unprecedented violence.”

In its analysis of Bangladesh, the report said, “Journalists have been among the leading collateral victims of the tough methods adopted by the ruling Awami League and its boss, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

It added that the Dec 30 polls were accompanied by a disturbing increase in press freedom violations, including violence by political activists against reporters in the field, the arbitrary blocking of news websites, and arbitrary arrests of journalists.

The report also cites the arrest of photojournalist Shahidul Alam as an example of how the judicial system is used to silence those who agitate the government.

“The executive’s latest weapon is the digital security law adopted in October 2018, under which ‘negative propaganda’ is punishable by up to 14 years in prison,” the report observed.

The Paris-based press advocacy group uses seven barometers to measure and rank media freedom in countries around the world. These are: the level of pluralism, media independence, the environment for the media and self-censorship, the legal framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

Bangladesh stood at 146 in the previous year’s index.

Among other Asian countries India stands at 140, Pakistan at 147, while Nepal, Thailand and Afghanistan stand at 106, 136 and 121 respectively.

Among developed nations, the UK climbed seven places from the previous year’s index to stand at 33 while the US slid three places to 48.

Norway retained the top spot in the Press Freedom Index for 2019.