Greece was ranked 74th in the Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders for 2018, 14 spots better than 2017 when it was in the 88th spot.
As the excerpt on Greece points out:
The Greek media landscape is evolving. MegaTV, the oldest privately-owned TV channel, seems to be on the point of closing for economic reasons after operating for 29 years. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras failed in an attempt to make 246 million euros for the state from the sale of broadcast licenses in 2016. The Syriza leader had promised a major overhaul of the Greek broadcast media but has not yet succeeded in pulling it off. The courts continue to pass suspended prison sentences on journalists for defamation. In another significant court decision, foreign minister Nikos Kotzias was able to have the assets of the publisher of the Athens Review of Books magazine frozen as part of libel suit over an old issue that had reminded its readers of the minister’s Communist Party past.
Reporters Without Borders warned that there is growing animosity towards journalists worldwide. In this year’s World Press Freedom Index, the organization sternly warns that “hostility towards the media, openly encouraged by political leaders, and the efforts of authoritarian regimes to export their vision of journalism pose a threat to democracies.”
The index evaluates the state of press freedom in 180 countries each year. In Turkey and Egypt journalists are routinely accused of terrorism and are often imprisoned for not showing loyalty to the powers that be. But this negative trend also extends to countries who traditionally have always upheld freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.
“The United States, the country of the First Amendment, has fallen again in the Index under Donald Trump, this time two places to 45th,” the report states. Trump has referred to journalists as “enemies of the people”, jargon usually used by autocrats and dictators worldwide, afraid of any form of criticism and challenge to their rule.
source: statista
