Freedom House Ranks Albania in the Middle Regarding Free Press

TIRANA, June 5

Albania was given the grade 2 regarding the freedom of media, according to the report released today by the ‘Freedom House’, an organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. The report titled ‘The freedom and the Media 2019, a downward spiral’, marks the countries in the world from the worst, with number 0 (controlled media) to the highest, number 4 (free press).

Freedom of the press is the right to report news or circulate opinion without censorship from the government, so if Albania is marked with number 2 that means that the media is partly free.

Also, with the number 2 is marked the Balkans, except Greece, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria, that are marked with the number 3, thus one upper level regarding the media freedom. Regarding the countries that earned level 4, respecting the media freedom in Europe, are ranked France, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal, Benelux, and the Scandinavian countries.

In Asia, Russia and China are countries marked with 0, the media according to report, is not free, therefore controlled by the government.  Meanwhile, in North America, only U.S.A. and Canada are marked with 4, whereas Mexico is marked with grade 2.

If we look at the map and make a comparison between continents, Asia and Africa are colored with the bright red color to faded red, which means the media in countries that fall into those two continents are not free to partly free.

According to Freedom House’s ‘Freedom in the World’ data, media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade, with new forms of repression taking hold in open societies and authoritarian states alike. The Washington-based organization said that “in some fragile democracies, antidemocratic leaders are using a variety of financial and legal tools to silence independent journalists and support friendly outlets”.

Source and Photo Credit/ Freedom House

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