From bad to worst. Bhutan’s press freedom ranking has dropped by 57 places to 147th this year. The France-based international non-profit organisation, Reporters Without Borders or RSF released the World Press Freedom ranking, today, coinciding with World Press Freedom Day.
In 2022, Bhutan was placed in the 33rd position, reflecting a relatively high level of press freedom. However, by 2023, the ranking fell to 90th position.
The downward trend continued this year, with Bhutan’s ranking dropping to 147.
The RSF report bases press freedom in 180 countries on political, economic, legislative, social, and security indicators.
Of the five indicators, Bhutan’s score in the political indicator is the lowest in 2024 signifying increasing political pressure on journalism.
According to the RSF, the drop is attributed to the difficulty of accessing state-held and governmental information and self-censorship by journalists.
Moreover, the report states the struggles of privately-owned publications, which have a relatively low readership and insufficient advertising for sustainability, among other challenges.
Meanwhile, journalists shared their reactions to this year’s World Press Freedom Index and discussed the difficulty of accessing timely information for news.
“I think the good times for high media ranking is over. For a long time, we had a high media ranking because we did not have journalists getting killed, kidnapped, or hurt, but now, foreign experts are looking more closely at the economic and political indicators in terms of legislation, in terms of sustainability and high attrition rate. So, I think it is a wake-up call as well,” said Tenzin Lamsang, editor of The Bhutanese.
“When it comes to self-censorship, I feel, in Bhutan, it is high when it comes to the reporter side, to the interviewer side and even with our sources. Everybody is in fear that even if we use names, everyone will know. So, maybe that is one of the reasons that our press freedom ranking is very low. Secondly, it is highly talked about that access to information is very low in our nation even though journalists do not face threats or dead calls, but access to information has been challenging over the years,” said Yangyel Lhaden, Kuensel’s reporter.
“Sometimes certain agencies say that they will give you this information but just give us this amount of time and I have gone through this experience where media focal said that she will get back to me by maybe two or three days, then after a week or two if I contact again it was that time she told me that the specific individual who was dealing with the case information, not in the country,” said Jigme Wangdi, Kuensel’s reporter.
During the first meet-the-press session with the current government, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay emphasised the importance of the media’s role in the country.
“Journalists play a crucial role in our country, especially within a democratic system where the media holds significant importance. Therefore, we are committed to supporting journalists. When journalists work to disseminate news and act as watchdogs, rather than inciting hatred, we consider it as serving the Tsa Wa Sum. We are hopeful for cooperation with all of you. Secondly, the media play a vital role in holding the elected government accountable. While there are various strategies for accountability, the media holds a particularly important position. You should never hesitate to report the news.”
Currently, according to the RSF, only one per cent of the world’s population lives in a country guaranteeing press freedom.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Sherub Dorji
