Press Freedom Ranking Low But Rising

[geovalin]

Khmer Times/Jonathan Greig

Cambodia ranked 128th in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2015 ranking of press freedom in countries across the world, the watchdog said yesterday on its website. RSF, which has been compiling the rankings yearly since 2002, said press freedom worldwide had seen a disturbing downturn as governments attempted to crack down on print and online news dissemination.

“The climate of fear results in a growing aversion to debate and pluralism, a clampdown on the media by ever more authoritarian and oppressive governments, and reporting in the privately-owned media that is increasingly shaped by personal interests,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Guaranteeing the public’s right to independent and reliable news and information is essential if humankind’s problems, both local and global, are to be solved.”

Using journalistic independence, self-censorship, transparency, abuses and a number of other criteria, RSF compiles its list after sending out surveys to reporters and lawyers in every country. Despite the low ranking, Cambodia actually rose 11 spots compared with last year. But RSF said reporters, especially those covering illegal logging and trafficking of any kind, still faced government stonewalling and overt threats of violence from powerful stakeholders within the country. RSF also mentioned the highly controversial Telecommunications Law, which they say has the “aim of closely regulating Internet use.”

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24031/press-freedom-ranking-low-but-rising/

[Lupatria]

I wonder why Thailand only dropped 2 points in the 2016 report, maybe their keyboard got a broken "0"

[amdy2206]

Cambodia improving, Thailand rapidly sinking down the scale. Another area the unelected PM has cocked up.