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PH rises in press freedom index, but worth watching due to 'new strongman' Duterte - RSF

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Ivy Jean Vibar, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/26/rsf-2017.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Reporters Without Borders</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - While it remains among the world&#x27;s most dangerous countries for journalists, the Philippines rose 11 places in a global press freedom index partly due to a drop in the number of media killings last year.The Philippines ranked 127th in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by France-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), rising from <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/04/21/16/ph-moves-up-in-press-freedom-rankings-but-score-declines">last year</a>&#x27;s 138.This even as the organization noted how President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s &quot;insults and open threats&quot; against the press &quot;do not bode well,&quot; a reference to his administration&#x27;s often averse stance towards the media.The RSF said the media situation in the Philippines is worth watching due to &quot;new strongman&quot; Duterte.The Philippines&#x27; score of 41.08 places it at the second-lowest rating of &quot;Bad&quot;, along with Asian neighbors including Indonesia (124), Cambodia (132), India (136), Pakistan (139), Sri Lanka (141), Thailand (142), Malaysia (144), Bangladesh (146), Singapore (151), and Brunei (156).The RSF&#x27;s index measures the degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries, and is determined by pooling responses of experts to a questionnaire.It takes into account data on abuses and acts of violence against reporters, as well as pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the flow of news and information.Countries with the freest media are rated &quot;Good&quot;, followed by &quot;Fairly Good&quot;, &quot;Problematic&quot;, &quot;Bad&quot;, and &quot;Very bad.&quot;The Asia-Pacific region, RSF said, is the &quot;third worst violator&quot; of media freedom, and holds &quot;many of the worst kinds of records.&quot;China, ranked 176th, and Vietnam, at 175, are considered the &quot;world&#x27;s biggest prisons for journalists and bloggers,&quot; RSF said.It is also home to &quot;press freedom predators,&quot; the heads of dictatorships such as China, North Korea, and Laos, countries the RSF described as &quot;news and information black holes.&quot;The top 10 countries in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index are the following:1. Norway - 7.60 2. Sweden - 8.27 3. Finland - 8.92 4. Denmark - 10.36 5. Netherlands - 11.28 6. Costa Rica - 11.93 7. Switzerland - 12.13 8. Jamaica - 12.73 9. Belgium - 12.75 10. Iceland - 13.03The following countries were ranked at the bottom of the list:171. Equatorial Guinea - 66.47 172. Djibouti - 66.47 173. Cuba - 71.75 174. Sudan - 73.56 175. Vietnam - 74.96 176. China - 77.66 177. Syria - 81.49 178. Turkmenistan - 84.19 179. Eritrea - 84.24 180. North Korea - 84.98The complete list can be found on the <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table?sort=asc&amp;order=Ranking">RSF website</a>.

While it remains among the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, the Philippines rose 11 places in a global press freedom index partly due to a drop in the number of media killings last year.

While it remains among the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, the Philippines rose 11 places in a global press freedom index partly due to a drop in the number of media killings last year.

PH rises in press freedom index, but worth watching due to 'new strongman' Duterte - RSF

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PH rises in press freedom index, but worth watching due to 'new strongman' Duterte - RSF

Ivy Jean Vibar,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 26, 2017 07:43 PM PHT

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World Press Freedom Index

Reporters Without Borders

RSF

press freedom

freedom of information

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