SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), April 25 (SeeNews) – Bosnia and Herzegovina has climbed three spots to 62nd position in Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) latest global report on press freedom, the non-governmental organisation said on Wednesday.
In regional comparison, Bosnia was better ranked in media freedom than Croatia (69th), Serbia (76th), Albania (75th), Kosovo (78th), Montenegro (103rd), Bulgaria (111th) and Macedonia (109th), but worse than Romania (44th), and Slovenia (32nd), the World Press Freedom Index 2018 showed.
The polarized political climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked by constant verbal attacks and nationalist rhetoric, is not a favourable environment for press freedom, RSF pointed out.
"Editorial policies reflect ethnic divisions and hate speech is ever more evident. Journalists are attacked for their ethnic origins as well as what they write", it said.
Defamation suits by politicians often serve to intimidate journalists and deter them from pursuing their work, while media ownership concentration is not transparent, RSF concluded.
Published by RSF annually since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries using the following criteria – pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructure, and abuses.