The Doha Globe
DOHA: Qatar ranks second in the Gulf region in media freedom in the 2019 World Press Freedom (WPF) Index even as there has been a marked decline in media freedom in the GCC countries this year.
Among the 180 countries and territories surveyed for the WPF Index released by international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Kuwait ranks 108 in the list and tops the Gulf region in media freedom, followed by Qatar, at number 128.
Saudi Arabia has the least press freedom among the GCC countries at number 172, and is one of the 10 countries which are at the bottom of the table. “Despite his talk of reform, Mohammed bin Salman has intensified the repression since his appointment as crown prince in June 2017. The number of journalists and citizen-journalists in detention has tripled since the start of 2017,” the RWB report says.
“Saudi Arabia permits no independent media. Authorities keep Saudi journalists under close surveillance – even when they are abroad, as Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in Istanbul in October 2018 illustrated,” it adds.
All the countries in the Gulf have lower rankings compared to last year with Oman at 132 on the index, the UAE 133 and Bahrain 167. Though the RWB report gives specific reasons for the decline in press freedom in each country, one common reason could be the Gulf crisis, which has resulted in greater restrictions on the media. Indeed, among the Gulf countries, Oman has registered the maximum decline in the index, falling five points compared to last year.
Interestingly, India is ranked at number 140, and has slid two points compared to last year. At least six Indian journalists were killed in connection with their work last year with mystery still shrouding the death of a seventh scribe. “These murders highlighted the many dangers Indian journalists face, especially those working for non-English-language media outlets in the rural areas. Attacks against journalists by supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi increased in the run-up to the general elections now underway in India. Those who espouse Hindutva, the ideology that gave rise to Hindu nationalism, are trying to purge all manifestations of “anti-national” thought from the national debate,” claims the report.
The coordinated hate campaigns waged on social networks against journalists who dare to speak or write about subjects that aggravate Hindutva followers are alarming and include murder threats and the campaigns are particularly virulent when the targets are women.
The top five countries for press freedom are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands and Denmark, and the worst five countries are Vietnam (176), followed by China, Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan (180).
Only 43 of the 180 countries surveyed were considered to have a “good” or “fairly good” rating for press freedom. Journalists around the world are seeing increased fear and violence in their line of work as press freedom faces further decline, according to the RWB report.
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