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5 big losers in press freedom: Mali and ... Japan?

The annual World Press Freedom Index released today shows gains for Myanmar and others. Japan tumbled due to an informal ban placed on independent coverage of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Here are five of the notable winners and losers on this year’s list.

#151: Myanmar (Burma)

Alexander F. Yuan/AP
A woman carries a child on her back at an Internally Displaced Persons refuge camp set up at a land of Woichyai Baptist Church in the town of Laiza, in northern Myanmar's Kachin-controled region, Jan. 29.

Although it remains in the dubious company of Iraq (#150), Russia (#148), and Mexico (#153), Myanmar is something of a success story for press freedom, says Halgand, of RSF. The country rose 18 spots this year and has made small but significant lurches toward a free media – there are no longer any journalists in the country imprisoned for their work, for instance, and media outlets exiled by the former military dictatorship are slowly being allowed to return. Myanmar has also eliminated the policy of prior censorship, where media content was suppressed before its publication, and RSF researchers were able to return to the country in 2012 after several years of blacklisting, Halgand says.

“Burma should be highlighted because we are observing amazing improvement with no violence,” she adds. “It shows us that democratization can happen without crisis.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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