Some time back, Filipino journalists liked to claim that we had Asia's freest press. Not anymore if you go by recent years, especially after RSF last week released its 2022 World Press Freedom Index, which saw the Philippine news media fall by nine places — from 138th to 147th, out of 180 countries. And with the apparent election of Ferdinand Marcos' son as president, there are fears that things could get worse.
New Zealand led the whole of Asia at 11th place, followed by Timor-Leste (17), Australia (39), South Korea (43) and Japan (71).
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines was eighth, trailed only by Laos (161), Vietnam (175) and Myanmar (176). The freest were Timor Leste (17), Papua New Guinea (62) and Malaysia (113).
At 180th, North Korea held the world's worst record, followed by Eritrea (179), Iran (178) and Turkmenistan (177).
Norway, Denmark and Sweden were the world's freest, at first, second and third, respectively. The United Kingdom was 24th and United States 42nd. Greece, the birthplace of democracy was 108th.
The big success story in Southeast Asia was Timor Leste, which improved by 54 places, followed by Thailand (up 22 places) and Singapore (up 21).
The biggest losers in the region were Myanmar (down by 36 places), Papua New Guinea (down by 16) and the Philippines (down by 9)
Press Freedom in Southeast Asia
