Fueled by myriad wars and widespread political turmoil, 2014 saw a shocking number of journalists jailed, intimidated and murdered with impunity simply for doing their jobs. Reporters Without Borders charted a “drastic decline in freedom of information” across the globe in its annual “World Press Freedom Index” report, released Thursday.
Looking at the independence, safety and “infrastructural environment” of the media in 180 nations, RWB found that the overall level of freedom of information violations increased by 8 percent over 2014, and that two-thirds of the countries studied showed a decline in their performance from the year prior.
“Beset by wars, the growing threat from non-state operatives, violence during demonstrations and the economic crisis, media freedom is in retreat on all five continents,” the study reads.
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While a number of factors can play into deteriorating press freedoms (economic instability, religious censorship, etc.), RWB says media repression is often used as a tool in times of war.
“Many governments and non-state actors used control and manipulation of media coverage as a weapon of war in 2014,” the report reads. “Ranging from over-coverage to complete news blackout, it creates a hostile climate for journalists and has disastrous consequences for media pluralism.”
