The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic deterioration in media freedom worldwide, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) watchdog said in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, released on Tuesday.

The annual index, based on a survey of RSF’s regional correspondents, covers 180 countries and territories taking into account issues such as instances of attacks on journalists, media independence, and transparency of government institutions.

The watchdog warned that media freedoms have deteriorated considerably in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, noting that reporters have been arrested for covering the Covid-19 outbreak in countries such as China, Venezuela, Serbia, and Kosovo.

Croatia sees slight improvement

Meanwhile, Croatia has moved up three places compared to the 2020 ranking, and is now 56th out of 180 countries.

However, the report said that “Croatian journalists who investigate corruption, organised crime, or war crimes are often subjected to harassment campaigns.”

“Defamation is criminalised. Insulting ‘the Republic, its emblem, its national hymn or flag’ is punishable by up to three years in prison. Worse still, media content deemed ‘humiliating’ has been criminalised since 2013,” the RSF said.

“Nonetheless, several courts ruled in favour of journalists during defamation trials in 2020. The government has not stopped meddling in the public TV broadcaster HRT, while HRT’s management continues to sue employees who have complained about this problem, and has gone so far as to bring a complaint against the Association of Croatian Journalists.”

In the region, Serbia’s ranking, 59th, remained unchanged from last year. Bosnia and Herzegovina also retained its position on the index, ranking 58th out of 180 countries.

COVID-19 pandemic deepens financial crisis in Croatian media

“Meanwhile, physical attacks, along with threats and cyber-violence, all without a reaction from the authorities, continue to be a major problem for journalists (in Croatia). The Covid-19 pandemic deepened the financial crisis in the media, leading many outlets to cut pay and stop using freelancers. The journalists’ union asked the government to intervene to help freelancers, and some economic measures were taken in the summer of 2020 but not all media outlets benefitted,” the report said.

Nordic countries remain most successful

The 10 countries with highest levels of press freedom are as follows: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Jamaica, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.

On the other hand, the countries with lowest levels of press freedom are Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China, Djibouti, Vietnam, Iran, Syria, Laos, and Cuba.