Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan has risen to 109th place in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, up from 136th last year, with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) crediting the improvement to fewer attacks on the media. The report also warned that economic pressure remains a major global challenge for news outlets.
Published on World Press Freedom Day, the Index ranks Norway first and Eritrea last. For the first time, South Sudan leads both Kenya and Uganda within the East African Community, scoring 51.63 to place 109th. Kenya follows at 117, Uganda at 143, while Ethiopia (145), Sudan (156), and Egypt (170) remain further behind.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), while the jump in rankings is being hailed as a positive sign, reactions from South Sudanese journalists remain mixed. It stated that some see the improvement as a reflection of fewer incidents of arrest and detention compared to previous years. However, others caution that core challenges remain unresolved.
“There may be fewer arrests, but interference, intimidation, and harassment are still widespread,” said one Juba-based journalist who requested anonymity. The RSF report notes that economic fragility remains a central threat to press freedom both globally and in South Sudan. Limited funding, low wages, and lack of infrastructure continue to constrain independent journalism in the country.
The report also highlights the difficulty of conducting nationwide media assessments due to ongoing conflict and a lack of reliable data. This has made it challenging to evaluate the full scope of the country’s media environment and public access to information.
Despite the challenges, the rise in the index offers a moment of cautious optimism for media professionals and press freedom advocates in South Sudan. However, many agree that sustained reforms and stronger protections for journalists are needed to ensure lasting progress.
According to data collected by RSF for the Index, in 160 out of the 180 countries assessed, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” — or “not at all.” The report warned that news outlets are shutting down due to economic hardship in nearly a third of countries globally, including the United States (ranked 57).
“The economic indicator in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index is at its lowest point in history, and the global situation is now considered ‘difficult’,” said the RSF report. It further cited that serious funding cuts are an additional blow to the media economy, which is already weakened by the dominance that tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft have over the dissemination of information.
“These largely unregulated platforms are absorbing an ever-growing share of advertising revenues that would usually support journalism,” the report stated. It also added that in 42 countries — harbouring over half of the world’s population— the situation is classified as “very serious.” In these zones, the report cited that press freedom is entirely absent, and practising journalism is particularly dangerous.
Source: Eye Radio
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