Economic fragility a big threat to press freedom

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 02/05/2025

A majority of adults globally say freedom of the press is very important but another survey shows that conditions for news media are worse than ever. The media’s economic fragility has emerged as one of the foremost threats to press freedom, Reporters without Borders (RSF) says in its annual Press Freedom Index. “The overall conditions for practising journalism are poor in half of the world’s countries; when looking at the economic conditions alone, that figure becomes three-quarters.” 

Another survey across 35 countries shows that a median of 61% say having freedom of the press is very important, with another 23% saying it is somewhat important. Only 28% say the media are completely free to report the news in their country, with an additional 38% saying the media are somewhat free, the Pew Research Center says.

In light of the alarming situation, RSF says it calls on public authorities, private actors and regional institutions to commit to a New Deal for Journalism by following 11 key recommendations.    

“Concrete commitments are urgently needed to preserve press freedom, uphold the right to reliable information, and lift the media out of the destructive economic spiral endangering their independence and survival. That is where a New Deal for Journalism comes in”, RSF says.

MEDIA PLURALISM

Among recommendations are to protect media pluralism through economic regulation. “Although most news outlets are private entities, they serve the public interest by ensuring citizens’ access to reliable information, a fundamental pillar of democracy. Media pluralism must therefore be guaranteed, both at market level and by ensuring individual newsrooms reflect a variety of ideas and viewpoints, regardless of who owns them.”

“News outlets, tech giants, and governments should embrace the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), an international standard for journalism. Over 2,000 media outlets in 119 countries are already engaged in the JTI certification process”, RSF says. 

“Governments should introduce the principle that companies have a responsibility to help uphold democracy, similar to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Advertisers should be the first to adopt this concept as a priority, as their decision to shift their budgets to online platforms — or, worse, websites that fuel disinformation — makes them partially responsible for the economic decline of journalism.” 

“Democratic states must require digital platforms to ensure that reliable sources of information are visible to the public and remunerated.”

The European Union’s Copyright Directive and Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code in — the first legislation regulating Google and Facebook — are two examples of legally requiring major platforms to pay for online journalistic content. RSF says.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

“To ensure the economic value generated by online journalistic content is fairly distributed, these types of laws must be broadly adopted and their effective implementation must be guaranteed. Public authorities must also ensure fair negotiations so that media outlets are not crushed by the current imbalance of power between economically fragile news companies and global tech giants.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has made the need for fair remuneration for content creators all the more urgent, as their work is now used to train or feed AI models. This is simply the latest example of why regulation is necessary to protect journalistic content from new forms of technological exploitation.” 

In the Press Freedom Index report, RSF says that at a time when press freedom is experiencing a worrying decline in many parts of the world, a major — yet often underestimated — factor is seriously weakening the media: economic pressure. 

“Much of this is due to ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers, and public aid that is restricted, absent or allocated in an opaque manner. The data measured by the RSF Index’s economic indicator clearly shows that today’s news media are caught between preserving their editorial independence and ensuring their economic survival.”

OLIGARCHS AND AUTHORITIES

“When news media are financially strained, they are drawn into a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting, and can fall prey to the oligarchs and public authorities who seek to exploit them”, says Anne Bocandé, RSF Editorial Director

 “When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press — those who champion disinformation and propaganda. The media economy must urgently be restored to a state that is conducive to journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently costly.” 

In 160 out of 180 countries, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” — or “not at all, according to RSF.

“Worse, news outlets are shutting down due to economic hardship in nearly a third of countries globally.”

“The situation in Palestine  is disastrous. In Gaza, the Israeli army has destroyed newsrooms, killed nearly 200 journalists and imposed a total blockade on the strip for over 18 months. In Haiti, the lack of political stability has also plunged the media economy into chaos.

“Thirty-four countries stand out for the mass closures of their media outlets, which has led to the exile of journalists in recent years. This is especially true in Nicaragua (172nd in the freedom index, down 9 places), Belarus (166th), Iran (176th), Myanmar (169th), Sudan (156th), Azerbaijan (167th) and Afghanistan (175th), where economic difficulties compound the effects of political pressure.”

DONALD TRUMP

RSF says that President Donald Trump’s second term has already intensified a trend with false economic pretexts being used to bring the press into line. 

“This led to the abrupt end to funding for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which affected several newsrooms — including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — and, as a result, over 400 million citizens worldwide were suddenly deprived of access to reliable information.” 

“Similarly, the freeze on funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) halted US international aid, throwing hundreds of news outlets into a critical state of economic instability and forcing some to shut down — particularly in Ukraine (62nd).” 

“These serious funding cuts are an additional blow to a media economy already weakened by the dominance that tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft have over the dissemination of information. These largely unregulated platforms are absorbing an ever-growing share of advertising revenues that would usually support journalism.” 

“Total spending on advertising through social media reached 247.3 billion USD in 2024, a 14% increase compared to 2023. These online platforms further hamper the information space by contributing to the spread of manipulated and misleading content, amplifying disinformation”, RSF says.   

MOST DANGEROUS

“The Middle East-North Africa region remains the most dangerous in the world for journalists, harbouring the mass destruction of journalism in Gaza by the Israeli army. Every country in the region is in a “difficult” or “very serious” press freedom situation, except Qatar (79th).” 

“The press is caught between crackdowns from authoritarian regimes and persistent economic precariousness.”

“Europe still leads the regional rankings but is increasingly divided. The Eastern Europe- Central Asia (EEAC) region has experienced the steepest overall decline worldwide, while the European Union (EU)-Balkans zone has the highest overall score globally, and its gap with the rest of the world continues to grow. However, even the EU-Balkans zone is hurt by the media’s economic crisis, as seven in 10 countries (28 out of 40) have seen their economic score decline. 

Norway (1st) remains the only country in the world to enjoy a “good” rating across all five indicators of the Index. It held on to its top spot for the ninth consecutive year, increasing its lead over other countries. Estonia (2nd) moved up to second place, closely followed by the Netherlands (3rd), which overtook Sweden (4th) in the world’s top three.

The Pew Research report survey says a median of 59% globally say having freedom of speech in their country is very important but only 31% say speech is completely free where they live. 

“This so-called “freedom gap” – where the share of people who value free speech is larger than the share who believe they have it – appears in 31 of the 35 countries surveyed.”

On the subject of freedom on the internet, a median of 55% say the ability to use the internet freely is very important, while 50% say they are completely free to use the internet in their country.

Majorities in over half the nations surveyed also say made-up news and information is a very big problem in their country.

“Concerns about fabricated or manipulated news are pervasive across all regions but generally more intense in countries classified as middle-income. Still, majorities see made-up news and information as a very big problem in the high-income countries of South Korea (73%), Chile (72%), Greece (65%), France (63%), Germany (62%), Spain (61%) and Japan (59%).”