The report praised Germany for its strong constitutional guarantees of press freedom, emphasising that the constitutional court has repeatedly ruled in favour of press freedom. The stable press freedom in northern Europe is in contrast to the global situation which has worsened in nearly two thirds of the 180 countries in the Index, said RSF. The number of countries where the media freedom situation was ‘good’ or ‘fairly good’ has fallen by 2.3 percent. Press freedom has retreated wherever an authoritarian model has triumphed, it added. Published since 2002 the World Press Freedom Index measures indicators including pluralism, media independence and respect for the safety and freedom of journalists.

Source: The Local April 26, 2017 08:26 UTC