Europe has the freest media in the world according to Reporters Without Borders’ annual press freedom ranking — though Southern and Eastern Europe are lagging behind the rest of the continent and the world overall is struggling.
The RSF World Press Freedom Index released its yearly report and map on Friday, and it’s particularly good news for journalists in the Nordics and Baltics.
The top 15 countries were all in Europe, with Norway scoring the highest, followed by Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Norway frequently tops press freedom rankings, with robust legal protections and a thriving media market.
France (25) and Italy (49) both dropped several places compared to 2024, while the United Kingdom (20) improved slightly and Poland (31) leaped more than a dozen spots.
Greece recorded the worst result in the European Union for the fourth year in a row, coming in at 89. The main reasons for its lackluster score include wiretapping of journalists by intelligence agencies using Predator spyware, government interference, intimidatory lawsuits and inadequate legal guardrails.
Its Balkan neighbors also fared poorly, with Croatia (60), Bosnia (86), Serbia (96) and Kosovo (99) all among the worst in Europe.
For the first time since the index’s inception in 2002, the average score out of 100 fell below 55, with journalism conditions classified as “difficult” or “very serious” in more than half of all countries assessed. RSF cited economic instability and media concentration as factors contributing to a worsening press freedom climate.
In the Middle East, dozens of reporters have been killed during Israel’s military assault in Gaza, the organization said. Iran, Syria, China, North Korea and Eritrea were ranked the five worst countries in the world to be a journalist, with non-existent press freedom.
The United States fell two places to 57. President Donald Trump’s administration is bringing about a “troubling deterioration” through funding cuts to public media and foreign aid, RSF added.
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