The vast majority of EU member states outperform Malta when it comes to freedom of the press, according to the 2015 edition of the World Press Freedom Index drawn up by international NGO Reporters Without Borders.
Malta was ranked 48th – out of a total of 180 countries – in the 2015 index, but this ranking only earned it 22nd place among the 28 members of the EU. Only Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria – in that order – fared worse than Malta within the 28-nation bloc.
The result means that Malta’s ranking actually improved by three places when compared to the 2014 index. However, its overall score has actually deteriorated, from 23.84 in 2014 to 24.16 this year: the index uses a 100-point score, with 0 being the best possible score and 100 the worst.
A score of 15 or lower – which has been achieved by 21 countries – is needed for the country’s press situation to be rated good.
Malta’s situation, according to the index, is merely “satisfactory,” and barely so: countries with a score of 25 or higher are deemed to have noticeable problems.
The present incarnation of the index is based on seven criteria; pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency, infrastructure and abuses.
While there is no breakdown of the score, abuses – including violence and harassment of journalists, news media and bloggers – are separately assessed, and the local media may take comfort in the fact that no abuses were recorded in the period between 15 October 2013 and 15 October 2014, on which the 2015 index is based.
But on the other hand, Malta’s ranking has deteriorated considerably since it was first included in the World Press Freedom Index in 2009. Back then, it was ranked 11th out of 170 countries, and it maintained a respectable 14th place out of 173 countries the following year.
It was not featured in the 2011 index, but slipped to 45th place out of 178 countries in 2012, retaining the same position in 2013. In 2014, its ranking fell to 51st among 180 countries.
The worst-ranked country, with an overall score of 84.86, is Eritrea, one of the primary countries of origin for asylum seekers who end up in Malta. Neighbouring Somalia – the main country of origin for asylum seekers who arrive in Malta – fares little better, with an overall score of 72.31
Harassment of journalists earned China the highest abuses score of 89.64, contributing to an overall score of 73.55, ranking it 176th out of 180 countries. China’s special administrative region of Hong Kong, on the other hand, is ranked 70th with a score of 27.76, although the situation in the territory is worsening.
Malta is outperformed by a number of developing countries with a less established journalistic tradition, including Namibia, Samoa, and the Niger. But a number of developed, democratic countries have fared worse: the US is ranked 49th, Japan 61st and Israel 101st.
Russia is ranked 152nd with an overall score of 44.97, but the worst-performing member of the Council of Europe is Azerbaijan, which is ranked 162nd with an overall score of 58.41.