Source: Voice of America
WASHINGTON —
Incessant attacks on the media by populist politicians are posing a threat to major democracies, two international watchdogs said on Wednesday.
In their annual reports on the state of press freedom around the world, Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House harshly criticized Western populist leaders for discrediting the media, berating journalists, and threatening to impose restrictions.
Members of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) hold stencils representing portraits of emprisonned Turkish journalists, during a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy, in Paris, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is traveling to Paris for talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron amid protests over press freedom and deteriorating state of human rights in Turkey. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
“As recently as five years ago, global pressure on the media did not appear to affect the United States or the established democracies of Europe in any significant way,” Freedom House said in its report, “State of Global Press Freedom, 2017-2018.” “Today, populist leaders constitute a major threat to free expression in these open societies.”
Categories: Free Speech, Media, The Muslim Times