Your trusted source

Armenia has jumped 19 spots to 61st among 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

According to the annual index published on Thursday, the media landscape is diverse in Armenia, but “polarized and the editorial policies of the main TV channels coincide with the interests of their owners.”

“In other words, journalistic independence and transparent media ownership continue to be major challenges,” RSF said.

Meanwhile, neighboring Azerbaijan is down three places to 166th, Georgie sits in the 60th place and Iran comes 170th.

Overall, the index shows a decline in global press freedom. “The hostility towards journalists expressed by political leaders in many countries has incited increasingly serious and frequent acts of violence that have fuelled an unprecedented level of fear and danger for journalists,” reads the report.

Only 24 percent of the 180 countries and territories are classified as “good” or “fairly good”, as opposed to 26 percent last year.

Norway is ranked first in the 2019 Index for the third year running, while Finland (up two places) has taken second place from the Netherlands (down one at 4th). An increase in cyber-harassment caused Sweden (third) to lose one place, the RSF report said.

At the bottom of the index, both Vietnam (176th) and China (177th) have fallen one place, Eritrea (up 1 at 178th) is third from last, despite making peace with its neighbour Ethiopia, and Turkmenistan (down two at 180th) is now last, replacing North Korea (up one at 179th).

The United States (48th) has fallen three places in this year’s index and the media climate is now classified as “problematic”. Russia, ranked 149, continues to persecute independent media outlets, the RSF report said.