hard
rsf index records the lowest global press freedom score in twenty-five years.
the april 30 reporters without borders index marks the first year more than half of 180 countries fall into the difficult or very serious categories. the share of the world's population living somewhere with good press freedom has dropped from twenty percent to under one percent, leaving seven mostly nordic countries in that band.
via Al JazeeraGLOBAL
hopeful
post-assad syria climbs thirty-six places in the same press freedom ranking.
the same april 30 rsf index records the steepest improvement of any country: syria moved up thirty-six places after the fall of the assad government. the index notes the gains remain fragile and uneven, with armed groups still active in the north, but newsrooms shuttered for over a decade have begun publishing again from damascus and aleppo.
via RSFSY