Spain falls from 29th to 32nd in the World Press

Spain falls from 29th to 32nd in the World Press Freedom Index

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A growing precariousness of the journalistic profession and increasingly idiosyncratic media put Spain 32nd in the world ranking of press freedom, despite improving the safety of professionals and legislative advances, according to the report prepared by Reporters Without Borders and presented this Tuesday (RSF) . Alfonso Bauluz, President of the organization in Spain, explained: “Traditionally, we have focused primarily on the violence used against journalists and the legal framework in which their work is carried out. This year we also looked at the political, economic and socio-cultural context. Hence the drop in ranking. Last year Spain was 29th. This year it has fallen three positions. It’s your worst result.

Comparisons should be used with caution, however, RSF warns, because this year they have developed five new indicators in preparing their classification: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context and security. Edith Rodríguez Cachera, Vice-President of the Entity’s International Council, explains that it is the political and economic indicators that penalize Spain. On the one hand, he highlighted a “major climate of media polarization”: “media that is idiosyncratic rather than informative, political information that overshadows and distracts from the rest of the information, leaving citizens distrustful and ultimately distrustful of the journalistic profession It applies to.” all in the realm of politics.

On the other hand, Rodríguez Cachera has assured that Spain has “pointed” in the economic aspect: “We are referring to the excessive concentration of the media in the market, to the serious difficulties in creating independent media, to paywalls that are proliferating and to which are difficult to access, to zero aid to encourage the emergence of new publications. Above all, we are talking about precariousness”. On this last point, the report alludes to “the serious precariousness of the profession, which began to calm down with the 2008 crisis and which is already becoming chronic and seriously affecting freedom of the press”. From RSF, they warn that information professionals who do not practice decent working conditions are “much more vulnerable to pressure and self-censorship”.

Positive aspects

The political and economic indicators have disadvantaged Spain, but there are other pillars where the country has improved. “We have improved in terms of security because the conflict in Catalonia, which had put us at the forefront of attacks on journalists by both police and protesters between 2017 and 2019, has been disabled. At the same time, our country has not been affected by the violent waves of anti-vaccination demonstrations and health measures that have spread to Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. In fact, Spain ranks 35th in terms of safety and is rated “significantly better” than France (85), Germany (91) or the UK (49).

Spain has also improved in the legal context. “The possible overturning of the so-called crimes of speech – insults against the Crown, religious sentiments, advocacy of terrorism, etc. – and some of the most contentious provisions of the so-called Gag Act are being debated in Congress, namely the article of that Act which made the capture of images by the press was declared unconstitutional,” Rodríguez Cachera recalled.

However, as Rodríguez Cachera pointed out, it is worth noting that in Spain, as in other neighboring countries, the so-called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are increasing, d often intimidating and for alleged disclosure of secrets or crimes against honor. The RSF report sheds light on the case of eldiario.es (denounced by Cristina Cifuentes for the Master case), Infolibre (denounced by former PP Secretary General Teodoro García Egea and Fernando López Miras, President of the Community of Murcia) or El Confidencial (Iberdrola millionaire lawsuit).

The situation of press freedom in the world is deteriorating

Never before has there been a “very serious” press freedom situation in so many countries. This is the worst of the five classifications RSF uses to assess the conditions in which journalism is practiced in 180 countries and territories around the world. From best to worst they are: good; rather good; problematic; difficult; very seriously. Specifically, 28 countries are in a “very serious” situation, compared to 21 in the previous report. These include Russia, China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Belarus, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

In the European Union (EU) in particular, murders of journalists are on the rise, RSF points out. Peter R. de Vries in the Netherlands, Giorgos Karaivaz in Greece, Daphne Caruana in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia were assassinated. In addition, anti-vaccination demonstrations erupted in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. As in Spain, SLAPP procedures have become widespread in EU countries. In Eastern Europe, they say from RSF, the situation is particularly worrying in Russia, which falls to No. 155 due to the news blackout, the pressure and the silence that independent journalists and foreigners have had to go to if they don’t they wanted to risk, to be imprisoned. Also that of Belarus, which has become one of the five largest prisons for journalists in the world, with the peculiarity that more women than men are in prison.

In Latin America, concern is centered on Mexico, which has racked up 150 murders of journalists over the past 20 years, in addition to an average of two attacks on reporters a day. The climate in which they are committed is one of high impunity: in 95% of murders, it is unknown who ordered the killing. Far from condemning this, according to Rodríguez Cachera, President López Obrador is determined to attack the press and create a climate of hostility against it. On the other hand, Nicaragua is also worrying, falling 39 places to 260 because, according to the vice president of the organization’s International Council, the dictatorial couple that rules the country, made up of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Also El Salvador, due to the repressive measures of President Nayib Bukele, and Cuba, always at the bottom when it comes to freedom of expression and marked by six decades of journalists in exile. In North America, the United States has improved slightly since Donald Trump’s presidency, but it persists with structural problems such as the extreme polarization of society and the disappearance of the local press.

In North Africa and the Middle East, Algeria and Morocco are concerned and are using an iron fist on journalists. Of concern are Saudi Arabia, Iran, the world’s largest enforcer of journalists, Gaza in Palestine, where media outlets are being bombed, and the Sahel, where David Beriáin and Roberto Fraile were assassinated. Asia, they say at RSF, is one of the worst places to report. Burma jails journalists; In Afghanistan, 40% of the media have shut down, and China, for its part, is the world’s largest prison for journalists, with 135 in prisons or similar facilities.

On the other hand, the Nordic countries repeat themselves at the top of the classification: Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Mainly because its ecosystem is not precarious, it is established and also transparent in the sense that access to public information from the press is facilitated, according to RSF. “Only 5% of the world has a free situation for journalism, and in 80% journalists find it difficult to report,” emphasizes Rodríguez Cachera, who recalls: “Freedom of the press is both journalists’ right to information and that Right of journalists as citizens to receive diverse information”.