{"id":9975,"date":"2026-04-30T11:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=9975"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:00:34","slug":"press-freedom-at-lowest-level-in-25-years-romania-ranked-49th-out-of-180","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=9975","title":{"rendered":"Press freedom at lowest level in 25 years, Romania ranked 49th out of 180"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press freedom has reached its lowest level in the past quarter-century, according to the\u00a0announcement<\/a> made by Reporters Without Borders on Thursday, April 30, as it launched its World Press Freedom Index. Romania is in 49th place in the ranking, up from 55th in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to RSF, in 2002, 20% of the global population lived in a country where the state of press freedom was categorised as \u201cgood.\u201d In 2026, less than 1% of the world\u2019s population lives in a country that falls under this category. Only seven countries in Northern Europe, including Norway at the top, are in this category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Comparatively, in over half of the world\u2019s countries and territories (52.2%), the state of press freedom is categorised as \u201cdifficult\u201d or \u201cvery serious.\u201d This category was a small minority (13.7%) in 2002.<\/p>\n

The erosion of press freedom is largely due to the expansion of increasingly national security-oriented policies. The Index\u2019s legal indicator has declined the most over the past year, a clear sign that journalism is increasingly criminalised worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNational security laws, for example, those against terrorism or for protecting state secrets, increasingly restrict the field of journalism. Russia is a champion in this field, but the impact is also felt in democracies,\u201d RSF Editorial Director Anne Bocand\u00e9 underlined. Another weapon is \u201cintimidation lawsuits,\u201d meaning legal actions for defamation, economic disparagement, or the dissemination of false news, which aim to intimidate journalists.<\/p>\n

Romania is in 49th place in the ranking, with an improved score (67.71) compared to last year (66.42). The state of press freedom in the country is labeled as \u201cproblematic,\u201d the same as in the neighboring Hungary or Bulgaria, but also in Greece and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Republic of Moldova is in 31st place, with a \u201csatisfactory\u201d level of press freedom, the same as Germany, France, or Poland.<\/p>\n

According to RSF,\u00a0Romania boasts a diverse and relatively pluralistic media landscape, providing fertile ground for hard-hitting public interest investigations. There is, however, a\u00a0lack of transparency surrounding media financing,\u00a0especially concerning political parties\u2019 public funds.<\/p>\n

“The market is diversified but fragmented, with many TV channels and news websites whose sustainability is fragile. Editorial decisions are often subordinated to the interests of owners, transforming the media into a propaganda tool,” the same source added.<\/p>\n

Political interference and party-funded favorable coverage plague Romanian media, and legislation\u00a0protecting\u00a0press freedom and access to reliable information is insufficiently enforced.<\/p>\n

The safety of journalists remains a matter of concern, as they are often the target of attacks, threats, and intimidation. Surveillance remains an issue, with intelligence services seeking greater power and influence against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and other international conflicts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from Romania, journalists in all regions of the world are facing specific difficulties. In the Americas, the situation has evolved significantly, with the United States dropping seven places and several Latin American countries sliding deeper into a spiral of violence and repression.<\/p>\n

RSF especially highlighted the spectacular drops recorded by El Salvador (143rd place), which has lost 105 positions since 2014 and since the start of the war against criminal gangs, or by Georgia (135th place), which has dropped 75 positions since 2020 due to an \u201cintensification of repression.\u201d<\/p>\n

The largest drop in 2026 is recorded by Niger (120th place, -37 positions), a symbol of the \u201cdeterioration of press freedom in the Sahel for several years,\u201d between \u201cattacks by armed groups and (those) of the juntas in power,\u201d according to RSF. Previously promising countries like Mali and Burkina Faso also saw deteriorating scores after the arrival of military regimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia (176th place, -14 places), where journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed by the state in June, \u201ca unique fact in the world,\u201d joined Russia, Iran, and China at the bottom of the ranking, which is closed by Eritrea (180th place).<\/p>\n

By contrast, Syria (141st place) makes a jump forward of 36 places after the fall of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n

radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source: rsf.com)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Press freedom has reached its lowest level in the past quarter-century, according to the\u00a0announcement made by Reporters Without Borders on Thursday, April 30, as it launched its World Press Freedom Index. Romania is in 49th place in the ranking, up from 55th in 2025. According to RSF, in 2002, 20% of the global population lived […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}