Caribbean nations among the best and worst in press freedom rankings

Monday, November 3, 2003

PARIS, France: Caribbean nations appear at the top (Trinidad) and at the bottom (Cuba) in the 2003 global press freedom rankings just released by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Each country is rated on a points system, with 0 being the best and 100 the worst. A total of 166 countries are included in the ranking, as against 139 last year, the first year the surveys were conducted. The other countries were left out because of a lack of reliable, well-supported data, the organisation said.

Trinidad and Tobago with 1 point topped the Caribbean region at 5th overall, after the top four of Finland, Iceland, Netherlands and Norway, each with 0.50 of a point. Jamaica was 21st with 3.33 points.

Cuba with 97.83 points appears at 165, one above last placed North Korea. The only other Caribbean countries in the survey are the Dominican Republic (17 points), which placed 72nd, and Haiti (31 points), which placed 100th.

The United States, which is often used as the benchmark for press freedom, received 6 points and was ranked 31st for commitment to press freedom at home. But the US dropped to 135th, or 41 points when ranked for its behaviour beyond its borders, notably in Iraq, which it now occupies following the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

"Wealth and press freedom don't always go together," said Reporters Without Borders. "As in 2002, the ranking shows that a country's respect for press freedom is not solely linked to its economic development. The top 50 include countries that are among the poorest in the world, such as Benin (29th position), Timor-Leste (30th) and Madagascar (46th).

"Conversely, the 50 countries that respect press freedom least include such rich nations as Bahrain (117th) and Singapore (144th)," the media body added.

To compile this ranking, Reporters Without Borders asked journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists across the globe to fill out a questionnaire evaluating respect for press freedom in a particular country.

It noted that Cuba was in 165th position, second from last, because "26 independent journalists were arrested in the spring of 2003 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years, making Cuba the world's biggest prison for journalists".

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