Ghana has dropped from 30th to 60th on the latest Press Freedom Index released by Reporters without Borders (RSF).
RSF in a statement said, "The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos – the effects of a globalised and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda."
"Within democratic societies, divisions are growing as a result of the spread of opinion media following the “Fox News model” and the spread of disinformation circuits that are amplified by the way social media functions."
At the international level, democracies are being weakened by the asymmetry between open societies and despotic regimes that control their media and online platforms while waging propaganda wars against democracies. Polarisation on these two levels is fuelling increased tension."
The latest ranking put Ghana at 60 among the 180 countries listed and the situation of press freedom described as problematic. The key indicators for the score of 67.43 are the economic circumstances and safety of journalists.
The top three countries are Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
The bottom three countries are the Islamic Republic of Iran, Eritrea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea where the situations have been described as very serious
RSF said the 20th World Press Freedom Index published reveals a two-fold increase in polarisation amplified by information chaos – that is, media polarisation fuelling divisions within countries, as well as polarisation between countries at the international level.