The Sift: 2024 press freedoms | TikTok’s ‘Operation Watermelon’

Reporting conditions for journalists are worsening in many places around the world under mounting political pressure from governments and other groups in a consequential election year, according to Reporters Without Borders and its 2024 press freedom ranking. RSF found that the environment for journalism is “satisfactory” in only a quarter of the 180 countries and territories included in its findings.

The annual World Press Freedom Index weighs five indicators to determine conditions for practicing journalism in each country. The political indicator, which evaluates pressure from the state and other political actors, fell the most in this year’s ranking, dropping an average of 7.6 points on a 100-point scale worldwide — “a worrying trend” amid widespread elections, RSF said. RSF noted that some political groups are stoking distrust of journalists through threats and insults, while others are “orchestrating a takeover” of the media ecosystems in their countries. The group’s findings also pointed out that political actors often push propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

Norway (1), Denmark (2) and Sweden (3) topped the index as countries with the best press freedoms, while Afghanistan (178), Syria (179) and Eritrea (180) — countries with plummeting political scores — ranked at the bottom. The United States (55) fell 10 spots, with RSF citing the decline of local news, mass layoffs across the industry and growing distrust of the media, among other factors.

• Idea: Invite a journalist from NLP’s Newsroom to Classroom directory to share their experiences related to press freedoms.
• Resource: “Press Freedoms Around the World” (NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom).
• Related:
  • “Press Freedom Is Under Attack in Much of World, U.N. Ambassador Says” (Joseph De Avila, The Wall Street Journal).
  • “Attacks on press freedom around the world are intensifying, index reveals” (Annie Kelly, The Guardian).
• Editor’s note: The April 29 issue of The Sift had an incorrect date for World Press Freedom Day. We updated it in the newsletter archive to reflect the correct date (May 3).

Dig Deeper: Use this think sheet to evaluate the effects of political pressure on press freedoms worldwide (meets NLP Standard 2).

What role does the First Amendment play in the Israel-Hamas war protests sweeping across American college campuses? It’s complicated and largely depends on context, legal experts and university officials say. Unlike public universities, private universities are not required to uphold First Amendment protections and often set their own protest policies. And while some demonstrators may think of campus tent encampments as a form of speech, court rulings have found that such tactics can be restricted, even on public property. The same goes for occupying a building — like the one pro-Palestinian demonstrators seized at Columbia University — which one legal expert told The New York Times is an activity that a court would not see as protected under the First Amendment.

• Discuss: Which of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment do you think apply to the recent campus protests? Does the Constitution place limits on free speech? Do you think there should be limits? What is the “time, place and manner” standard? How do these protests put that standard to the test?
• Resources:
  • “Know Your Rights: What Freedoms Does the First Amendment Protect?” (Checkology virtual classroom). 
  • “The First Amendment” (Checkology virtual classroom).
  • “Challenge: The Daily Northwestern Protest” (Checkology virtual classroom).
• Related: 
  • “Can Texas public universities remove protesters from campus? First Amendment experts explain” (Bayliss Wagner, Austin American-Statesman).
  •  “Twitch streamers become go-to news source for campus protest coverage” (Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post).
  • “Student journalists are covering their own campuses in convulsion. Here’s what they have to say” (David Bauder and Christine Fernando, The Associated Press).
  • “In an Online World, a New Generation of Protesters Chooses Anonymity” (Nicholas Fandos, The New York Times).