Why did The Economist overlook Estonia?

Administrator — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:32:15 +0000

I blogged recently about Estonia’s achievement at being included, for the fourth consecutive year, among the global top ten in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual press freedom index. Unfortunately this news seems to have escaped the notice of the editors of The Economist Newspaper (sic). Or perhaps they preferred simply to ignore it, since Estonia’s standing on the list would have diluted their argument, set out in this week’s issue (October 24th 2009), that “media freedom is under threat across eastern Europe.”

The article does cite deplorable examples of press freedom infringements in several countries, including Poland (ranked #37), Slovakia (#44), and Bulgaria (#68). But The Economist–one of the finest English-language news publications in the world–goes a step too far in attempting to paint the entire region with the same broad brush.

No mention is made of Estonia, and Estonia is flatly omitted from the list of countries and rankings that accompanies the article. Most egregiously, after briefly bemoaning media restrictions in Britain and Italy, the article warns that “the climate farther east, in the former Soviet Union, is far chillier.”

For the record, RSF’s Press Freedom Barometer for Estonia shows:

Journalists killed: 0
Media assistants killed: 0
Journalists imprisoned: 0
Media assistants imprisoned: 0
Cyberdissidents imprisoned: 0

So I offer this friendly reminder to The Economist: media freedom is actually in pretty good shape in some countries in eastern Europe, and indeed in the former Soviet Union. They are called Estonia (#6), Lithuania (#10), and Latvia (#13).

Press freedom continues to thrive in Estonia

Administrator — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:57:36 +0000

Estonia was today named as one of the world’s ten best countries for freedom of the press by the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF). The annual ranking looks at violations of press freedoms in 175 countries and covers print, broadcast, and online journalism.

Estonia retained the top-10 ranking it has held for four consecutive years. It placed 6th, immediately behind a five-way tie for first place among Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Estonia’s rankings over the last four years have been impressive:

2006: 6th (tie)
2007: 3rd (tie)
2008: 4th (tie)
2009: 6th

According to the RSF website, “Reporters Without Borders compiles the index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world.”

See the complete list here, and some good analysis of the rankings here and here.

Estonia on the Map » press freedom

Why did The Economist overlook Estonia?

Press freedom continues to thrive in Estonia