Media. Press freedom: the United States and France fall in the world rankings

Mass closures of news media, domination of GAFAM, control of billionaires... Economic pressures threaten press freedom, warns Reporters Without Borders (RSF), pointing in particular to a "worrying deterioration" in the United States under Donald Trump 's mandate.

In its annual country ranking published this Friday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) paints a "difficult" situation worldwide. The United States has fallen two places, falling to ^57th out of 180, behind Sierra Leone. "The situation was already not good" in the country, which will fall ten places in 2024, concedes RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé. But it has worsened further since the inauguration in January of the American president, who has been responsible for "daily attacks" on the press.

"His administration has politicized institutions, reduced support for independent media, and marginalized journalists," subjecting them to "growing hostility," while "trust in the media is collapsing," the NGO summarizes. Donald Trump has also initiated the dismantling of American public media abroad, such as Voice of America, depriving "more than 400 million people" of "access to reliable information," according to RSF.

France on the wrong track

"The freezing of international aid funds," via the American development agency USAID, has also "plunged hundreds of media outlets into critical economic instability" and forced some "to close, notably in Ukraine" ( ^62nd , down 1 place). "Freedom of the press is no longer a given in the United States," also noted earlier this week the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a report on the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term.

At the same time, "vast information deserts" are being created in the United States with the disappearance of many local newspapers facing financial difficulties. These "economic pressures," less visible than physical abuses against journalists, constitute a "major obstacle" to press freedom, insists RSF.

In the rest of the world, Norway retains first ^place for the ^ninth consecutive year in RSF's ranking, while Eritrea remains in last place, just behind North Korea and China. France ( ^25th ), where a "significant share of the national press is controlled by a few wealthy individuals," RSF points out, has fallen four places .

"Israel destroys editorial offices"

The most significant drops are observed, for example, in Guinea ( ^103rd , -25), the scene of a "terrible restriction" of press freedom according to Anne Bocandé, and, like last year, in Argentina ( ^87th , -21), led by the ultra-liberal president Javier Milei .

The situation is also "disastrous" in Palestine ( ^163rd , -6), according to RSF, which accuses the Israeli army of having "destroyed newsrooms and killed nearly 200 journalists." RSF produced this ranking based on "a quantitative survey of abuses committed against journalists" and "a qualitative study" among experts.

More generally, the sector's economy is being "undermined" by GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft), whose platforms, "largely unregulated, capture a growing share of advertising revenue" and contribute to "the proliferation of manipulated or misleading content."

>> Link to the full ranking