Recent reports say this is the sixth similar incident in six months, highlighting the dangers many reporters face on a daily basis just doing their jobs.
Friday’s report comes on the day the Belfast Telegraph received news of a fresh threat against one of its journalists, the sixth such incident in six months.
Eoin Brannigan, editor-in-chief of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, said: “Journalists in Northern Ireland are used to getting phone calls and knocks on the door in the middle of the night from the police.”
“Media workers have been murdered in Northern Ireland and threats will always be taken seriously.
“Staff at the Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life and our sister newspaper Sunday World are not the only ones getting the message.
“However, it appears that they have accepted that they are somehow subservient to this territory. This attitude is unacceptable.
“We will continue to work with the PSNI, who deserve credit for their hard work in bringing these incidents to our attention, and will do everything we can to ensure our journalists can work safely.”
Norway maintained its top spot in the ranking, with the report saying that press freedom around the world is being “threatened by its supposed guarantors: political authorities.”
Allegations of police surveillance of journalists here are not only linked to the chilling effect of abusive legal proceedings aimed at silencing investigative reporting, attacks on exiled journalists, and increased online harassment, said Fiona O’Brien, director of RSF UK. also emphasized.
“Despite a slight drop in scores, the UK (23rd) moved up three places due to the actions of other countries around it,” she said.
“Overall, the situation is stable and the overall rating remains ‘satisfactory’, but in a year of mass layoffs in the industry, the economic situation indicator has fallen from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘problematic’. That’s worrying.”
Fiona O’Brien of Reporters Without Borders
All countries with “good” press freedom are in Europe, specifically the European Union, which adopted the first press freedom law. Ireland has dropped out of the top three countries on the index, replaced by Sweden, while Germany is now one of the top 10 countries.
Nevertheless, press freedom is being tested in the EU’s bottom three countries: Hungary, Malta and Greece. Further east in Europe, the conditions for practicing journalism are worsening due to the scale of disinformation and censorship of news organizations accused of undermining national security and terrorism.
This is the case in Russia (162nd), Belarus (167th) and Turkmenistan (175th), while in Georgia (down 26 places to 103rd) the ruling party is moving closer to Moscow.
Ukraine (61st) rose 18 places as a result of improvements in security indicators (fewer journalists killed) and political indicators.
According to RSF, at least 100 journalists were killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and May 1, 2024.
The United States (55th) fell 10 places due to an increase in attacks on journalists by political actors.