Finland ranks 3rd in Press Freedom index

Finland lost its position in the press freedom index this year as it ranked third after holding the top position for five consecutive years till 2016.

The index of World Press Freedom 2017 was released on Wednesday by Paris-based international organisation Reporters Sans Frontier (Reporters Without Borders).

“Ranked first in the World Press Freedom Index for the past five years, Finland has been ousted from the top spot in the 2017 Index by Norway. At the same time, Finland ranks fourth in the world for newspaper readers per capita, with 200 newspapers, including 33 dailies. The image of Finland’s flagship public broadcaster Yle was dented in December 2016 by “Sipilägate,” in which Prime Minister Juha Sipilä reportedly pressured Yle to modify its coverage of a possible conflict of interest involving him,” said the report.

Two Yle journalists said they were the targets of political pressure that constituted a violation of freedom of information. They subsequently resigned, the report added.

The Reporters Sans Frontier (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, ranked the performance of 180 countries based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists.

It also brought under consideration media pluralism and independence, respect for the safety and freedom of journalists, and the legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operate.

Norway ranked top in the index followed by Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Jamaica, Belgium and Ireland.

North Korea was at the bottom of the list followed by Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and China.