Infographics from Reporters Without Borders website
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ rank in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index has dropped two places to 149 from 147 the previous year.
The World Press Freedom Index study conducted by international organization Reporters Without Borders (RWB) measures the level of freedom of information in countries all over the world.
The Philippines, at 149 this year, is behind Malaysia (147) and Russia (148), but just ahead of Singapore (150) and Iraq (153).
The study is based on answers of journalists, researchers, jurists, and human rights activists from countries all over the world to a questionnaire.
Questions cover several general criteria such as media independence, environment and censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure.
The rankings also take into account human rights violations against the media such as killings and abductions.
“They include the number of journalists, media assistants and netizens who were jailed or killed in the connection with their activities, the number of journalists abducted, the number that fled into exile, the number of physical attacks and arrests, and the number of media censored,” RWB said in its methodology.
Finland, Netherlands, and Norway are the top three of the list while Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea are in the bottom three.
The single deadliest event for journalists in history, known as the Maguindanao massacre, occurred in the Philippines in November 23, 2009, according to the US independent nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
A total of 58 people were killed, 34 of whom were journalists, in an attack allegedly perpetrated by the clan of Andal Ampatuan Jr. to prevent political rival Esmael Mangudadatu from filing his certificate of candidacy.
The CPJ had already labeled the Philippines even before the massacre as the second most dangerous country for journalists, second to Iraq.
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