World Press Freedom Index: Press freedom in decline

Beyond the harsh constraints on journalism in the Middle East and Asia, press freedom has also been slipping in some parts of Europe.

Transcript

00:00 The new World Press Freedom Index has just been published by Reporters Without Borders.

00:06 Based on data compiled by the organisation, the majority of the countries with the most

00:11 difficult conditions for journalists are in the Middle East and Asia.

00:15 Europe remains the region where journalists enjoy the highest level of freedom overall.

00:21 It's the only part of the world where the situation for journalists is ranked as good

00:25 in some countries.

00:27 But even in Europe, the picture is mixed.

00:31 In the east and south-east of the continent, conditions have deteriorated and many countries

00:36 have dropped in the rankings.

00:39 That includes Belarus, which has now overtaken Russia and Turkey at the bottom of the index

00:44 to become the worst ranked for press freedom in Europe.

00:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]