PITIFUL - Sharp Drop In Press Freedom in Greece - Info. Only "Partly Free"

Press freedom is not something that is practised by the Greek media, and according to a recent  report the mainstream media in this country is only "partly free". What is worse, its score in a major international press freedom index experienced the sharpest fall of all countries in the last five years. More precisely, in 2013 Greece was ranked 92nd out of 197 countries, with a score of only 46 on a scale of 100. But hey (yes sarcasm...) look at the bright side, Greece is behind Mozambique but ahead of Angola.

On a broader scale, Greece's press freedom was greater than that of Bahrain and the Central African Republic (both down 16 points), but then again the aforementioned countries ranked 188th and 170th, respectively.

The information -which also shocked us here at HellasFrappe- was released by the Greek daily Eleftherotypia, which in return was quoting a recent Freedom of the Press report that was issued by Freedom House.

IMAGE - Freedom House - In 2009, Greece scored 29 points in the same index, putting it in the "free" press category.

     "Greece, following its decline to the Partly Free category in 2012, fell a further five points in 2013. This was caused in large part by the government’s abrupt shutdown of the public broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) in an opaque manner in June. A new entity, New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (Nerit), will launch in 2014 with a drastically reduced staff. In addition, the year featured an increase in libel cases and the use of surveillance against journalists, as well as the nontransparent awarding of telecommunications licenses," the report by the US-based Freedom House said.

IMAGE - Freedom House - The 17-point decline in Greece's score was greater than that of Bahrain and the Central African Republic (both down 16 points). However, these countries were placed 188th and 170th, respectively, in the rankings.

While Greece had the worst ranking in the entire European Union, the scene was even worse, and believe it or not it was pitiful in some developing economies in Eastern Europe as well.

The following data was released:

• Press Freedom in Italy ranked 64th
• Press Freedom in Hungary ranked 71st
• Press Freedom in Bulgaria ranked 78th
• Press Freedom in Croatia ranked 83rd position
• Press Freedom in Romania ranked 84th (also deemed only "partly free").

In short, the report found that press freedom across the globe dropped significantly over the last ten years, and what is worse it also said that only 1 in 7 people live in a country that actually has a well functioning “free” press industry. It also noted that the decline was driven in part by major regression in several Middle Eastern states, including Egypt, Libya, and Jordan; marked setbacks in countries such as Turkey, Ukraine, and East African nations; as well as a deterioration in the relatively open media environment of North America, and specifically the United States.

Freedom of the Press 2014 found that despite positive developments in a number of nations, or in the sub-Saharan African region, the dominant trends were reflected in setbacks in other areas across the globe.

IMAGE- Freedom House- In February, a press freedom study from Reporters without Borders put Greece in 99th place out of 180 countries. That news was ignored by most of the Greek media.