Guyana has been ranked 67 out of 180 countries in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index, released on Wednesday by Reporters without Borders.
Last year, Guyana was ranked at 69 out of 179. The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information and its protagonists. The ranking of some countries has also been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. Finland tops the index for the fourth year running, closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway, like last year.
At the other end of the index, the last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea, three countries where freedom of information is non-existent. According to the report, despite occasional turbulence in the past year, these countries continue to be news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them.
Reference tool
This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than last year. The new entry, Belize, has been assigned an enviable position (29th). Cases of violence against journalists are rare in Belize, but there were some problems: defamation suits involving demands for large amounts in damages, national security restrictions on the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and sometimes unfair management of broadcast frequencies.
The 2014 index underscores the negative correlation between freedom of information and conflicts, both open conflicts and undeclared ones. In an unstable environment, the media become strategic targets for groups or individuals whose attempts to control news and information violate the guarantees enshrined in international law, in particular, article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the 1977 Protocols Additional 1 and 2 to the Geneva Conventions.
“The World Press Freedom Index is a reference tool that is based on seven criteria: the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure,” said Reporters Without Borders Secretary General Christophe Deloire. “It makes governments face their responsibilities by providing civil society with an objective measure, and provides international bodies with a good governance indicator to guide their decisions.”
