Jamaica has suffered a great decline in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, released on Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Jamaica is listed as 32 out of 180 countries, whereas the country was ranked in 12th place in 2022.
As May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day, RSF still commended the country for its level of press freedom despite the decline.
RSF noted that in the past one to two decades, freedom of the press has continued to improve in Jamaica, and the right to information is widely respected.
“The country thus continues to rank among the safest in the world for journalists,” RSF said.
It added that the Jamaican free press often openly criticizes officials, and journalists have occasionally reported intimidation while doing their work, particularly ahead of an election.
However, RSF said, “Physical attacks are rare, but they do happen,” noting that a videographer for Television Jamaica and a reporter for the Jamaica Gleaner were attacked in November 2022 while covering a teachers’ protest in St Catherine.
Reports are that a man punched a cameraman, pulled the microphone cable, and tried to destroy the camera.
He also allegedly attempted to seize the Gleaner reporter’s mobile phone and issued death threats to both journalists before he was ushered away by people who intervened.
The Press Association of Jamaica and the Media Association of Jamaica condemned the attack.
RSF indicated that the incident would have contributed to the island’s drastic decline.
It further said that apart from this incident, no acts of violence against journalists had been recorded in the past 10 years.
It also urged reporters to “measure the threat posed to them by the country’s high crime rate when they are investigating a sensitive subject.”
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