Jamaica Among Highest Ranked Countries In 2020 World Press Freedom Index
The latest iteration of the World Press Freedom Index has Jamaica listed in 6th place.
The 2020 World Press Freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been published every year since 2002 and ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
RSF states the index is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.
Countries with a lower index rank higher on the list with Jamaica’s being 10.51.
RSF says this about Jamaica on its website:
“Jamaica ranks among the countries that most respect freedom of information. The rare physical attacks on journalists must be offset against this, but no serious act of violence or threat to media freedom has been reported since February 2009, a month that saw two cases of abuse of authority by the Kingston police.
While the law decriminalizing defamation passed by the House of Representatives in 2013 was a step in the right direction, RSF has expressed concerns with other pieces of legislation in recent years that could have a chilling effect on journalists, including the Data Protection Act in 2018 and the 2019 Criminal Justice and Administration Act.
That legislation passed, creating a sharp increase in the fine for taking photographs outside courts from $20 to $1 million that was seen as retrograde at a time when greater access to information should be promoted not penalised. There was also concern this past year about the Prime Minister’s claim that the media is not required to report facts, which sought to undermine the press.”
The top five countries are Norway with an index of 7.84 followed by Finland (7.93), Denmark (8.13), Sweden (9.25) and the Netherlands with an index of 9.96. The United States is ranked 45th with an index of 23.85.
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