Indexing government scandals one at a time
Ghana has for the second successive year dropped on the annual Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders.
The country’s ranking fell from 60th place last year to 62nd place in 2023. However, among African countries, Ghana placed 9th, an improvement from its 10th position in the 2022 report. This is Ghana’s worst performance in 18 years when it placed 66th in 2005. In 2016, Ghana ranked 26th in the world.
The ranking also shows that Burkina Faso, despite banning local retransmission of international broadcasters and deporting foreign journalists, performed better than Ghana.
On the safety of journalists, the report indicates that journalists’ safety has seriously deteriorated in recent years.
“In February 2022, three journalists were detained in the space of eight days and a fourth was very violently attacked. In May 2022, three unidentified individuals stormed into a radio station, smashed equipment and attacked the host and the producer of the show being broadcast. Politicians have meanwhile continued to make death threats against investigative journalists. Most cases of police violence against journalists are not pursued,” it said.
May 3, 2023
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