N. Korea ranked worst for press freedom: report

SEOUL, June 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea, along with China, Russia, Syria and other countries, has been rated as the worst in terms of press freedom, a recent report by a U.S. freedom watchdog showed Thursday.

Earlier this week, the U.S.-based Freedom House released the annual report for 2019, titled "Freedom and Media: A Downward Spiral," in which the North got zero on a scale of zero to four. Dozens of other countries also received zero in the report.

The report noted that freedom of the media has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade, and that in some influential democracies, populist leaders have overseen "concerted attempts to throttle the independence of the media sector."

In the report, both South Korea and Japan scored three points, while the United States and Britain got four points apiece.

This year's report pointed out that press freedom can rebound from even lengthy stints of repression when given the opportunity.

"The basic desire for democratic liberties, including access to honest and fact-based journalism, can never be extinguished," it said.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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