World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development

"Freedom of expression is essential to dignity, dialogue, democracy and sustainable development. We need to act on the ground - to strengthen national legislative frameworks, to train journalists, to build capacity and advance media and information literacy. We must continue to support media independence by promoting professional standards and self-regulation." - Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an advisory group of 27 international experts from civil society and academia contributed to this study, which analyses trends in press freedom along 4 dimensions: freedom, pluralism, independence, and the safety of journalists. The report explores major trends in these areas around the world since 2007, with a particular focus on global media and the gender dimensions of press freedom.

Through analysis of more than 800 quantitative and qualitative sources from a wide and global range of international and regional bodies, governmental and non-governmental organisations, academics, market research and consulting firms, and journalistic and scholarly articles, the report identifies and extrapolates several types of trends at the regional and global levels - although meaning by "trend" a general tendency, not necessarily a quantitatively measurable trend.

The overarching trend observed throughout is that "new technologies have empowered individuals with unprecedented opportunities to access, produce and share media content across multiple platforms. At the same time, the Report warns that the increasing control of online content by Internet intermediaries, such as search engines and social media networks, threatens transparency in the free flow of information and raises concerns about the 'privatization of censorship.'"

Specifically, in sum, trends in each of the 4 dimensions include:

1. Freedom: "The convergence in all regions and globally around international norms of free expression can be seen in the prevalence of constitutional guarantees and regional declarations on press freedom, the adoption of legislations, such as freedom of information and journalistic source protection laws, and the decriminalization of defamation. On the other hand, there have also continued to be shortfalls in practice and implementation, amid the rise of new challenges such as internet censorship and the use of national security and anti-terrorism laws....In regions that have experienced democratic transitions, progress towards greater press freedom has lost momentum in some cases, and press freedom laws have not always been effectively implemented..."
2. Pluralism: "...Expanding diversity of news media content, the internet, digitalization and online-search capacities have enabled more people to participate in information production and news flows....Although the trend around the world is to turn increasingly towards online sources of news, traditional media institutions and traditional media platforms remain predominant in most regions, and television and radio remain the media by which most of the world's people get their news. There has been a continuing trend away from state-monopolies to market-based media systems and the privatization of state-owned media. In some regions, the concentration of players in commercial news media has limited pluralism in the dominant, mainstream media markets, while in other regions a decline in funding from media support groups has further compounded concentration. The trend is mirrored to some extent online through continued agenda-setting by major mainstream news media outlets and their content, even on social media. With some exceptions, there has been a lack of progress in supporting community radio and independent public service broadcasting as elements of a pluralistic media landscape. Although there has been some improvement in representation of women in the news industry and in media content in some parts of the world, women remain significantly underrepresented and continue to often be stereotypically portrayed..."
3. Independence: "Media independence has been a struggle, as the operational independence of regulators has not improved amid recurring cases of political and commercial pressures and many have not adequately addressed rapid changes in media convergence. There are conflicting trends with respect to the extension of traditional media regulation to online media, with some States in some regions pursuing such measures, whereas this is not so much the case in others. Many existing regulatory and self-regulatory bodies have not adequately addressed rapid changes in media convergence....New issues of media ethics at the boundaries of journalism, security and privacy are emerging, particularly with the rising popularity of user-generated content, which increasingly competes with as well as supplements professional reporting and has tested both media and intermediaries in their ethical decision-making about the legitimate limits on free expression."
4. Safety: "Analysis of condemnations of journalist killings by the UNESCO Director-General between 2007 and 2012 shows an upward trend in the number of journalist killings, with nearly 30% of the 430 occurring in 2012, driven by conflict in two countries....In general, less than one in ten killings of journalists has led to a conviction over the period. This demonstrates a potential failure of follow-up in judicial systems and points to an environment in which crimes against freedom of expression may continue and escalate. International concern over killings has grown over the period..."

Click here for the 104-page report in English in PDF format.
Click here for the 115-page report in French in PDF format.

For more information, contact Guy Berger at g.berger@unesco.org