Bangladesh drops one notch in the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2021 as it ranked 152nd among 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders, also known as Reporters sans frontières (RSF).
The country was in 151st position last year.
This year’s index included evaluating press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories annually, shows that journalism is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained in 59 others, which together represent 73% of the countries evaluated, RSF states in an article published on its website.
Independent journalism is being fiercely suppressed in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal – classified as having “very bad,” “bad” or “problematic” environments for press freedom, and are identified accordingly in black, red or orange on the World Press Freedom map.
The Index data reflect that there is a dramatic deterioration in people’s access to information while an increase in obstacles to news coverage.
The coronavirus pandemic has been used as a ground to block journalists’ access to information sources and reporting in the field.
Journalists face increasingly hard situations to investigate and report sensitive stories, especially in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Norway ranked first in the Index for the fifth year running even though its media have complained of a lack of access to state-held information about the pandemic. Finland maintained its position in second place while Sweden (up 1 at 3rd) recovered its third-place ranking, which it had yielded to Denmark (down 1 at 4th) last year. The 2021 Index demonstrates the success of these Nordic nations’ approach towards upholding press freedom.
