World Press Freedom Day: Which are Europe’s lowest-ranked countries for journalistic freedom?

The world of journalism faces “drastic losses”, the UN has warned, as it highlights the importance of ‘information as a public good’ on World Press Freedom day.

The intergovernmental organisation says the current coronavirus crisis has forced closures and job cuts within the industry, while other media outlets are facing “political capture”.

The result is more “creeping news deserts” in countries where journalists are unable to get accurate information out to the public.

In April, the journalism NGO Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) released its global index of press freedom, highlighting how the pandemic has given authoritarian regimes an excuse to crack down on journalism.

A country that has been labelled ‘the last dictatorship in Europe’, Belarus is the worst ranked in the continent for press freedom.

Its inhospitable environment for journalists who are trying to do their jobs was brought into the spotlight following the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko as president last August.

Many journalists faced arrest and detention for attempting to document the widespread protest movement against the regime of the only man to have held the presidency in the 26 years since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.

The authorities there also cut off access to the internet. According to the Belarusian Internet Observatory, “from June 2020 to the present day, there are regular interruptions in access to the Internet in Belarus, especially at protest meetings locations. The complete Internet shutdown, including mobile internet, started on election day. The country was cut off from the World Web till the morning on August 12.”

Data collected by RSF and the Belarusian Association of Journalists showed police deliberately used violence against reporters, with the “clear aim of gagging the media”.

RSF says Belarus was the most dangerous country in Europe for journalists in 2020. Human Rights Watch said amid the “unprecedented crackdown” against journalists, members of the media were beaten, fined, detained or deported for covering the protests.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists documented 336 detentions and 60 incidents of violence against journalists in the months after the presidential vote.

Holding the record of being the world’s biggest jailer of journalists as recently as last year - according to PEN and RSF - journalists continue to face crackdowns on work critical of the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

RSF says the government has been eliminating opposition media during the current government’s rule, using the 2016 failed coup attempt to issue decrees cracking down further.

As of 2021 RSF says China has surpassed Turkey in its jailing of journalists, but it remains the second-worst country in Europe on RSF’s index.

“The risk of imprisonment and the fear of being subjected to judicial control or stripped of one’s passport is ever-present,” RSF says.

It explains that the government controls some 90% of the national media through government regulators, and discriminatory practices in the issuing of press cards and advertising spots.

One recent case saw the European Court of Human Rights ordering Turkey to pay damages to a jailed journalist, which it ruled was unreasonably convicted on terrorism charges.

Ahmet Altan was arrested in 2016 a month following the failed coup, and spent four and a half years in prison before recently being released.

The case brought by the Turkish government against the 71-year-old sparked international condemnation.

In a judgement in April, the ECHR's seven judges found "several violations of the right to liberty and security and a violation of the freedom of expression".

Russia has cracked down further on freedom of the press amid not only the coronavirus pandemic, but also as part of its fight against Vladimir Putin’s highest-profile critic, Alexei Navalny.

The EU and US have condemned the repression of opposition protesters and journalists in the wake of Navalny’s arrest and imprisonment.

In January the EU’s foreign affairs chief said he deplored detention and use of force against journalists amid the protests.

[media=One recent case saw the European Court of Human Rights ordering Turkey to pay damages to a jailed journalist, which it ruled was unreasonably convicted on terrorism charges. Ahmet Altan was arrested in 2016 a month following the failed coup, and spent four and a half years in prison before recently being released. The case brought by the Turkish government against the 71-year-old sparked international condemnation. In a judgement in April, the ECHR's seven judges found "several violations of the right to liberty and security and a violation of the freedom of expression". Russia Russia has cracked down further on freedom of the press amid not only the coronavirus pandemic, but also as part of its fight against Vladimir Putin’s highest-profile critic, Alexei Navalny. The EU and US have condemned the repression of opposition protesters and journalists in the wake of Navalny’s arrest and imprisonment. In January the EU’s foreign affairs chief said he deplored detention and use of force against journalists amid the protests.]

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US condemned "the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight.