Sunday, January 29, 2012

Reporters without Borders index

We had already covered that Turkey was placed in a very low rank at the Press Freedom Index and how had dropped from 102 to 138 since 2008, following the 2006 changes to the infamous Turkish Anti-Terror law that expanded the definition of terrorism to threaten freedom of expression and association. Turkey has dropped another 10 ranks this year:

According to the new release of Reporters without Borders, Press Freedom Index 2011-12, "[a]t a time when it is portraying itself as a regional model, Turkey (148th) took a big step backwards and lost 10 places. Far from carrying out promised reforms, the judicial system launched a wave of arrests of journalists that was without precedent since the military dictatorship."