India was ranked 136 out of 180 nations worldwide in terms of press freedom in 2015, which marks an improvement from its rank of 140 in 2014, even though its absolute score declined from 40.34 to 40.49.
In the annual World Press Freedom Index (WPFI), produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India’s “abuse score,” which reflects the intensity of violent harassment faced by journalists, was 59.58, higher than Sri Lanka’s score of 40.6, but below Pakistan’s score of 64.91 and China’s 89.64.
Regarding the country’s performance, the WPFI report said, “One journalist and no net citizens were killed.” The WPFI ranks the performance of countries according to a range of criteria that include media pluralism and independence, respect for the safety and freedom of journalists, and the legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operate, according to its producers.
While the top of the list this year and in previous years was dominated by Scandinavian nations such as Finland, Norway and Denmark, at the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were the worst performers. Russia, Iran and China also performed poorly, ranking at 152, 173 and 176, respectively.
