(AFP) – Media rights group RSF warned Friday about “an alarming deterioration in press freedom” in the United States under President Donald Trump as well as “unprecedented” difficulties for independent journalists around the world. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, which has been tracking press freedom for the last 23 years, said its main index had fallen to its lowest-ever level.
“For the first time in the history of the index, the conditions for practising journalism are poor in half of the world’s countries and satisfactory in fewer than one in four,” an annual review of media freedom globally by the charity concluded. RSF editorial director Anne Bocande highlighted the role of economic pressures in undermining fact-based reporting, with many independent outlets having to close because of funding difficulties.
Although spending on online advertising was still rising — hitting $247.3 billion in 2024, according to RSF — a growing share is captured by online giants Facebook, Google or Amazon rather than media companies. “When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press -— those who champion disinformation and propaganda,” Bocande said in a statement.
– ‘Authoritarian shift’ –
RSF highlighted how Trump had made difficult conditions worse by axing US financial support for state-backed broadcasters such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as well as US foreign development aid that assisted media outlets overseas. After a fall of 11 places in 2024, the United States declined another two to 57th place on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, one behind formerly war-torn Sierra Leone in west Africa.
The index, calculated according to the number of violent incidents involving journalists and other data compiled by experts, was topped by oil-rich Norway for the ninth year in a row. Estonia and the Netherlands were second and third. “In the United States, Donald Trump’s second term as president has led to an alarming deterioration in press freedom, indicative of an authoritarian shift in government,” RSF said. “His administration has weaponised institutions, cut support for independent media, and sidelined reporters.”
Large parts of the United States were now “news deserts,” RSF said. Trump signed Thursday an executive order to cut public funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), accusing the news outlets of being biased. On Wednesday, he announced that he was considering legal action against The New York Times. He is also suing media group Paramount over a pre-election interview last year of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris on its CBS channel.
Trump alleges it was edited to remove an embarrassing response, although many legal analysts view the case as baseless and likely to be dismissed or fail due to constitutional protections for freedom of the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a media watchdog, also warned Wednesday that press freedom in the United States was declining and it urged newsrooms to form a united front against the “rising tide of threats” facing them.
Other countries that have suffered major declines in press freedom over the last year include Argentina (down 21 places to 87th) under right-wing Trump ally Javier Milei, and Tunisia (down 11 places to 129th). RSF also again highlighted the plight of Palestinian journalists seeking to report on Israel’s devastating bombardment of Gaza. “In Gaza, the Israeli army has destroyed newsrooms, killed nearly 200 journalists and imposed a total blockade on the strip for over 18 months,” it said.
Israel meanwhile had dropped a further 11 places to 112th and “continues to repress its own news media”.
– Adam PLOWRIGHT
© 2024 AFP
