This country has moved up ten spots to 34 out of 180 countries on the 2017 Reporters Without Borders, World Press Freedom Index.
Other than Jamaica which sits at number eight, having moved up two spots from number ten in 2015, T&T is the only other Caribbean country in the top 40.
In 2016, T&T ranked 44th with a global score of 23.29, while in 2015, T&T ranked 41st with a score of 23.39. This year, at number 34, T&T has a global score of 20.62. North Korea was listed last on the list of 180 countries.
The press Freedom index ranks 180 countries according to “the level of freedom available to journalists”.
Reporters without Borders describe it as a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country.
It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country.
In a brief telephone interview on Friday, newly-elected Media Association of T&T (Matt) President Vernon Ramesar said it was always a good thing for a country to move up in the index.
“We still have a fairly free press in T&T and we would like to see it become more so,” Ramesar said.
He added that despite the upward movement on the index, the press in T&T were still facing challenges.
“There are challenges ahead in terms of the Cybercrime and Whistle blower legislation which is heading to Parliament but we are looking forward to further engaging the Attorney General on the concerns that the association still has.”
The index is an advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states. Because it is well known, its influence over governments is growing.
The degree of freedom available to journalists is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire.
This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated.
The criteria used in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
