Georgia ‘partly free’ for media but precedes all regional countries
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, April 28
Georgia ranks first among twelve other regional countries with its press freedom index, the 2016 Freedom of the Press Report provided by the United States-based non-profit organisation Freedom House says.
The report released yesterday gave Georgia 49 points out of 100 and the status of a 'partly free; county in terms of its press. The higher the number signals a negative outcome based on the organisation’s scoring system.
Ukraine ranked second in the list with 53 points, and Moldova third with 56 points, while Crimea (94), Uzbekistan (95) and Turkmenistan (96) were at the bottom in the regional ranking list.
It should be stressed Georgia was the only partly free country in the whole of the Caucasus region; other Caucasian states gained ‘not free’ status.
The scores were as follows: Russia-83 (not free); Armenia-63 (not free);Azerbaijan -89 (not free).
On a global scale, Georgia took 96th place out of 200 nations.
The Freedom of the Press report monitors censorship, intimidation and violence against journalists, and public access to information worldwide and is frequently cited by political scientists, journalists, and policy-makers.
Freedom House said journalists around the world now faced growing levels of pressure, and varied threats to press freedom made it harder for media workers to do their jobs.
This meant the public is increasingly deprived of unbiased information and in-depth reporting. “However, journalists and bloggers have shown resilience. Often at great risk to their lives, they strive to transmit information to their communities and the outside world, and circulate views that contradict those promoted by governments or extremist groups,” said Freedom House.
