Historical Trends in Media Freedom

Using data from our reports, Freedom House has developed a series of historical maps which graphically demonstrate trends in media freedom over the past quarter century using five-year snapshots of the status of press freedom worldwide.

On the whole, press freedom has increased gradually over the past quarter century. Our survey data from 1984 reveals that only 23 percent of countries had a Free media, while nearly 20 percent were Partly Free, and 57 percent were assessed as Not Free. Today, in a clear improvement, we rate 38 percent as having Free media, 30 percent as Partly Free, and only 32 percent as Not Free. The overall trend has been one of slow and steady improvement over this period. However, recently this trend has been reversed, and for the past six years declines on a global scale have emerged.

The single most significant factor in the early expansion of press freedom was the wave of democratization that occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s, first in Latin America and subsequently in the Soviet Union and its satellite states. However, these gains have been reversed in recent years, with Latin America witnessing the most significant backsliding of any region over the past fifteen years, and most of the former Soviet Union reverting to Not Free status by 2004.

Other regions, such as Asia and Africa, have undergone uneven development; Africa as a whole has shown a slow increase in number of Free and Partly Free countries, with the biggest improvements occurring in the early 1990s. Asia has also showed gradual improvement, again most noticeable in the early 1990s, followed by some recent setbacks. In both of these cases, the major shifts have occurred in the number of countries which have moved from Not Free to Partly Free. Press freedom in the Middle East has largely stagnated, although recent incremental improvements have been in evidence.

Over the survey's span, we have also seen a shift from more overt forms of censorship and intimidation against the press to a wider range of factors that may impede media freedom, including more subtle forms of intimidation, such as economic boycotts or spurious lawsuits, as well as pressures by media owners or non-state actors. This coincides with the shift from more authoritarian government: as democracy has spread, all-encompassing controls and pliant media have become less common, and in their place have emerged a wide range of countries-many of them nominal democracies-with media that do express uncensored viewpoints, but which are subject to a variety of forms of subtler forms of harassment.

Click here for an animated version of the historical map progression (flash version).

Global Press Freedom in 1984

In 1984, 23 percent of countries were rated Free, 20 percent were rated Partly Free, and 57 percent were rated Not Free. Western Europe, North America, and parts of South America and East Asia and the Pacific were largely rated Free, and there were glimmers of partial freedom in the Americas, South Asia, and several Sub-Saharan African countries. However, huge swathes of the globe-virtually all of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union-are colored purple, reflecting the fact that their citizenry did not have access to free and diverse media.

Global Press Freedom in 1989

By 1989, in a measurable improvement, 36 percent of countries were rated Free, 12 percent were rated Partly Free, and 52 percent were rated Not Free. Gains were most noticeable in the Americas, where many countries moved from Not Free or Partly Free to Free status as military governments gave way to civilian regimes. Modest openings were also registered in South and Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, large sections of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union remained in the Not Free category.

Global Press Freedom in 1994

In 1994, 36 percent of countries were rated Free, 34 percent were rated Partly Free, and 30 percent were rated Not Free. Although there was little improvement in the percentage placed in the Free category, there was a significant shift from the Not Free to the Partly Free category. The former Soviet sphere experienced the most dramatic opening in the early 1990s, jumping from 100 percent of countries being rated Not Free to just 31 percent. Starting in 1992 and over the next several years, the former Soviet Union states experienced their first taste of a free press in many years, though partial rather than full freedom was the norm. Positive movement from the Not Free to the Partly Free category was also seen in Asia and Africa, where progress in media freedom came in the context of more general political democratization. In Asia, the percentage of Not Free countries declined from 42 percent in 1989 to 24 percent in 1994, while in Africa the percentage of Not Free countries declined dramatically from 86 percent to 50 percent over the same period.

Global Press Freedom in 1999

In 1999, 36.5 percent of countries were rated Free, 28 percent were rated Partly Free, and 35.5 percent were rated Not Free. While the percentage of Free countries continued to hold steady, backsliding occurred in the Former Soviet Union, as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East. The most significant shift occurred in the Americas, where much of South America shifted from Free to Partly Free status as violence against journalists increased (often in the context of generally rising crime rates), legal harassment based on libel or defamation laws became more common, state advertising was increasingly steered toward favored media outlets, and media concentration became more of an issue.

Global Press Freedom in 2004

In 2004, 38 percent of countries were rated Free, 25 percent were rated Partly Free, and 37 percent were rated Not Free. While selected countries made gains, backsliding continued in certain regions, particularly the Former Soviet Union. By 2004, the entire region, with the exception of Partly Free Georgia, was categorized as Not Free. The major factors in this reversal were twofold: first, oligarchic ownership of media outlets and increasing violence against journalists; second, increasing consolidation of power in the former Soviet states by strongmen who considered press freedom dangerous. Here, increased control by autocratic leaders has been the key factor in limiting press freedom, alongside other freedoms.

Global Press Freedom in 2007

Today, we rate 38 percent as having Free media, 30 percent as Partly Free, and 32 percent as Not Free. Western Europe, North America and the Caribbean, and the majority of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and East Asia and the Pacific have consistently been rated in the Free category. Much of Central and South America and South and Southeast Asia are placed in the Partly Free category, although in many of these countries the level of press freedom has declined. Sub-Saharan Africa presents a mixed picture; although more countries are moving from the Not Free to Partly Free category, almost half remain rated as Not Free. Restricted media environments remain the norm in parts of Asia, Africa, and almost all of the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union, where entrenched autocratic regimes continue to deny their citizens access to free media and where governments wary of criticism are increasingly moving to limit sources of independent information.

Click here for an animated version of the historical map progression (flash version).