By James Hall
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 26 2002 (IPS)

For the first time, African countries have been ranked according to the relative freedom that news media enjoy in countries from the Mediterranean to the Cape, and the listing has been comprehensive and fair enough to draw more thoughtful comments than complaints.

The first worldwide press freedom index was undertaken by the Paris-based press rights and protection organisation Reporters Without Borders. 139 countries, including most of Africa, were included.

‘’Not surprisingly, the little wealthy countries of northern Europe could afford the greatest degree of press freedom, and the conflicted countries of the south had poorer records,” Mozambican journalist Arlindo Dube told IPS.

But as he read down the list of nations, Dube noticed that some African countries ranked high, while some Western democracies did not have a flawless press freedom record.

The index of press freedom is a portrait based on conclusions drawn from events between Sep 2001 and Oct 2002. The compilers did not take account of all human rights violations that might have occurred in a country, but only those that affect press freedom.

Data was collected by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer questions about press freedom violations in their countries. Such violations included murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, government pressure, state monopolies of the media, punishment of press law offences and regulation of the media.

The survey found four African countries in particular suffered from poor press freedom. ‘’In Libya (129th) and Tunisia (128th), no criticism of Col Muammar Kadhafi or President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali is tolerated,” a Reporters Without Borders noted in a statement released with the survey.

‘’Eritrea (132nd) and Zimbabwe (122nd) are the most repressive countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The entire privately-owned press in Eritrea was banned by the government in September 2001 and 18 journalists are currently imprisoned there. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is notable for his especially harsh attitude to the foreign and opposition media,” the organisation noted.

‘’At the other end of the spectrum in Africa, Benin is in 21st place despite being classified by the UN Development Programme as one of the world ‘s 15 poorest countries. Other African states, such as South Africa (26th), Mali (43rd), Namibia (31st) and Senegal (47th), have genuine press freedom too,” said the press freedom group.

Worldwide, the press is least free in North Korea (139) and most free in Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, which are tied for first place.

The list compilers added this plea, ‘’The index measures the amount of freedom journalists and the media have in each country and the efforts made by governments to see that press freedom is respected.”

‘’No Arab country is among the top 50. Lebanon only makes 56th place and the press freedom situation in the region is not encouraging. In Iraq (130th) and Syria (126th), the state uses every means to control the media and stifle any dissenting voice. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein especially has set his country’s media the sole task of relaying his regime’s propaganda,” said the statement.

The ranking of African countries not previously mentioned: Nigeria (49), Uganda (52), Niger (53), Ivory Coast (55), Comoros and Gabon (tie – 59), Seychelles (61), Tanzania (62), Central African Republic (63) Gambia (64), Madagascar (65), Ghana (67), Congo (69), Mozambique (70), Burundi and Sierra Leone (tie û 72), Kenya (75), Guinea (79). Zambia (81), Malawi (84), Burkina Faso (85), Chad (87), Cameroon (88), Swaziland (89), Angola (93), Guinea-Bissau (94), Togo (97), Egypt (101), Sudan (105), Ethiopia (107), Rwanda (108), Liberia (109), Democratic Republic of the Congo (113), Mauritania (115), Equatorial Guinea (117), Tunisia (128).

No information was available for Botswana, Lesotho and some other African states.

‘’There is an obvious correlation between wealth and press freedom,” Tunisian journalist Mohamed Rashid, who felt neighbouring Algeria’s press is less free than his country’s media despite Tunisia’s low ranking on the list, told IPS. ‘’When countries achieve prosperity and security, there is less political conflict to report than in a developing nation. Those governments have less reason to interfere with the press. But don’t be fooled, if a national emergency should strike Finland or Norway or Canada, the authorities would not hesitate to intrude into press freedom for the sake of ‘national security’.”

Swaziland editor Constance Dlamini agreed when she told IPS, ‘’Look at the nations tied for first place on the list: The Netherlands, Iceland, Finland and Norway. These are not countries torn by unrest, poverty and perpetual disasters, but if chaos were to break out, how soon would press restrictions be put in place?”

Indeed, Reporters Without Borders expressed disappointment at the ‘’poor ranking” of the United States (17) because of the number of journalists arrested there because they ran afoul of new security measures put in place following the Sep 11, 2001 bombings.

A source with the Media Institute of Southern Africa said, ‘’It is good that a list like this has been compiled. Press freedom is a fundamental human rights. People need accurate information. All governments, to greater or lesser extent, try to spin or suppress information to make themselves look better. Increasingly, economic aid is tied to nations’ observation of human rights. We now have a criteria to show how African nations are observing our right to a free press.”

Excerpt:

By James Hall
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 26 2002 (IPS)

û For the first time, African countries have been ranked according to the relative freedom that news media enjoy in countries from the Mediterranean to the Cape, and the listing has been comprehensive and fair enough to draw more thoughtful comments than complaints.

The first worldwide press freedom index was undertaken by the Paris-based press rights and protection organisation Reporters Without Borders. 139 countries, including most of Africa, were included.

‘’Not surprisingly, the little wealthy countries of northern Europe could afford the greatest degree of press freedom, and the conflicted countries of the south had poorer records,” Mozambican journalist Arlindo Dube told IPS.

But as he read down the list of nations, Dube noticed that some African countries ranked high, while some Western democracies did not have a flawless press freedom record.

The index of press freedom is a portrait based on conclusions drawn from events between Sep 2001 and Oct 2002. The compilers did not take account of all human rights violations that might have occurred in a country, but only those that affect press freedom.

Data was collected by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer questions about press freedom violations in their countries. Such violations included murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, government pressure, state monopolies of the media, punishment of press law offences and regulation of the media.

The survey found four African countries in particular suffered from poor press freedom. ‘’In Libya (129th) and Tunisia (128th), no criticism of Col Muammar Kadhafi or President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali is tolerated,” a Reporters Without Borders noted in a statement released with the survey.

‘’Eritrea (132nd) and Zimbabwe (122nd) are the most repressive countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The entire privately-owned press in Eritrea was banned by the government in September 2001 and 18 journalists are currently imprisoned there. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is notable for his especially harsh attitude to the foreign and opposition media,” the organisation noted.

‘’At the other end of the spectrum in Africa, Benin is in 21st place despite being classified by the UN Development Programme as one of the world ‘s 15 poorest countries. Other African states, such as South Africa (26th), Mali (43rd), Namibia (31st) and Senegal (47th), have genuine press freedom too,” said the press freedom group.

Worldwide, the press is least free in North Korea (139) and most free in Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, which are tied for first place.

The list compilers added this plea, ‘’The index measures the amount of freedom journalists and the media have in each country and the efforts made by governments to see that press freedom is respected.”

‘’No Arab country is among the top 50. Lebanon only makes 56th place and the press freedom situation in the region is not encouraging. In Iraq (130th) and Syria (126th), the state uses every means to control the media and stifle any dissenting voice. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein especially has set his country’s media the sole task of relaying his regime’s propaganda,” said the statement.

The ranking of African countries not previously mentioned: Nigeria (49), Uganda (52), Niger (53), Ivory Coast (55), Comoros and Gabon (tie û 59), Seychelles (61), Tanzania (62), Central African Republic (63) Gambia (64), Madagascar (65), Ghana (67), Congo (69), Mozambique (70), Burundi and Sierra Leone (tie û 72), Kenya (75), Guinea (79). Zambia (81), Malawi (84), Burkina Faso (85), Chad (87), Cameroon (88), Swaziland (89), Angola (93), Guinea-Bissau (94), Togo (97), Egypt (101), Sudan (105), Ethiopia (107), Rwanda (108), Liberia (109), Democratic Republic of the Congo (113), Mauritania (115), Equatorial Guinea (117), Tunisia (128).

No information was available for Botswana, Lesotho and some other African states.

‘’There is an obvious correlation between wealth and press freedom,” Tunisian journalist Mohamed Rashid, who felt neighbouring Algeria’s press is less free than his country’s media despite Tunisia’s low ranking on the list, told IPS. ‘’When countries achieve prosperity and security, there is less political conflict to report than in a developing nation. Those governments have less reason to interfere with the press. But don’t be fooled, if a national emergency should strike Finland or Norway or Canada, the authorities would not hesitate to intrude into press freedom for the sake of ‘national security’.”

Swaziland editor Constance Dlamini agreed when she told IPS, ‘’Look at the nations tied for first place on the list: The Netherlands, Iceland, Finland and Norway. These are not countries torn by unrest, poverty and perpetual disasters, but if chaos were to break out, how soon would press restrictions be put in place?”

Indeed, Reporters Without Borders expressed disappointment at the ‘’poor ranking” of the United States (17) because of the number of journalists arrested there because they ran afoul of new security measures put in place following the Sep 11, 2001 bombings.

A source with the Media Institute of Southern Africa said, ‘’It is good that a list like this has been compiled. Press freedom is a fundamental human rights. People need accurate information. All governments, to greater or lesser extent, try to spin or suppress information to make themselves look better. Increasingly, economic aid is tied to nations’ observation of human rights. We now have a criteria to show how African nations are observing our right to a free press.”

Excerpt: