Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


VOA Interview: Freedom House Report

by Ramon Taylor

   A new Freedom House report says press freedom is deteriorating
   worldwide. VOA's Ramon Taylor spoke to Sarah Repucci, the Senior
   Director for Research and Analysis for Freedom House about the report.
   Below is an an edited transcript.

   Q: According to the report, press freedom is deteriorating worldwide;
   worsening for Not Free states (Eurasia + Middle East/North Africa)
   combined with a negative trend among Free States, notably across
   Europe. Can you expand on these overall findings, and its impact on the
   state of democracy in those countries?

   A: So we've been tracking a decline in global press freedom for a
   decade. And this has tracked very closely with an overall decline in
   political rights and civil liberties around the world. The declines in
   press freedom, as you mentioned, are primarily in Europe, which are
   among the best performing countries in the world and in Eurasia and
   MENA (Middle East and North Africa), which are among the worst. So
   we're seeing it at the two ends of the spectrum. It's especially
   concerning, not just because press freedom is a fundamental freedom in
   itself, but because of its implications for democracy. On the other
   hand, we do see some signs of hope and some signs of a rejuvenation of
   the media in countries that have had a turning point. And so you can
   definitely see that press freedom cannot be repressed forever. And
   there are always people who are fighting to bring it back.

   Q: Are we seeing more of the same tactics of the past (e.g. violence,
   harassment); or are there more nuanced efforts to undermine
   journalistic independence? And how do those tactics differ from Eurasia
   & MENA vs areas with generally more freedom, such as in European
   countries?

   A: It's very different at the two ends of the spectrum. So at the lower
   end of the spectrum, we're seeing very familiar tactics: arrests of
   journalists, threats to their safety, repressive laws, defamation laws
   that criminalize free speech. But at the top end of the spectrum we are
   really seeing a lot of new tactics. These are democratically elected
   leaders who then manipulate the media in ways that are very subtle that
   enable them to take control of the message that is getting to the
   population.

   Q: Specific examples of countries engaging in these tactics more
   recently?

   A: The kind of the classic examples of these countries would be
   Hungary, which has been doing this for a few years now. And Serbia also
   in Europe. Both those countries just dropped to partly free in our
   freedom in the world survey and have been at the forefront of new
   tactics for repressing the media. But we're also seeing this in