Bulgarian Media 'Partly Free' - Freedom House Report

Society | April 28, 2016, Thursday // 12:24
Bulgaria: Bulgarian Media 'Partly Free' - Freedom House Report

Media outlets in Bulgaria are partly free along with most countries in Southern and Southeast Europe, the 2016 Freedom of the Press report shows.

The country has received 40 points in the Freedom House report's ranking (zero being the best result and 100 being the worst). It has performed better than all of its neighbors except for Romania (28 points) and than all the Western Balkan countries. Media in two of the neighboring countries, Turkey and Macedonia, are ranked as "Not Free".

However, placed in an overall European context, Bulgaria has ranked 32nd (out of 42 countries included), after Romania and Italy and ahead of Hungary and Montenegro.

Three of Bulgaria's neighbors (Turkey, Serbia and Macedonia) suffered the largest declines in press freedom compared to other part of the world, alongside Bangladesh, Burundi, France, Yemen, Egypt, and Zimbabwe.

Media freedom declined not just in repressive societies but also in Europe... Journalists in much of Europe had to contend with new threats from terrorists as well as new surveillance and security laws that could hamper their work,"
Freedom of the Press research director Jennifer Dunham is quoted as saying.

The report also notes that "global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power".

Another Freedom House report issued earlier described Bulgaria as a "semi-consolidated democracy".

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Tags: freedom house, Freedom of the Press, partly free, media

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