Romania ranks 49th in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index, unveiled by Reporters Without Borders on April 20. The country had thus climbed three places from last year when it ranked 52nd.

Romania has a score of 24.29 and ranks better than Hungary, Italy, and Bulgaria, and just behind Poland, France, and the US.

However, Reporters Without Borders also highlighted the main problems of the mass media in Romania: “excessive politicization of the media, corrupt financing mechanisms, editorial policies subordinated to owner interests and intelligence agency infiltration of staff – such has been the impact of the media’s transformation into political propaganda tools, which has been particularly visible in election years, including 2014.”

The Index ranks 180 countries, based on the freedom allowed to journalists. According to this year’s report, Europe (with 19.8 points) still has the freest media, followed by Africa (36.9), America (37.1), Asia (43.8), Eastern Europe/Central Asia (48.4), and North Africa/Middle East (50.8).

Finland keeps heading the ranking, with a score of 8.59, followed by the Netherlands – 8.76, and Norway – 8.79. On the other hand, China, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea scored the worst this year.

The full report is available here.

Romania at the bottom in Europe for press freedom

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com