World Press Freedom Day, May 3: Canada plummeted ten points in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index, a list that is compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders.

The plunge, which takes our country out of the top ten and into a lackluster spot number 18, is attributable to lack of access to information imposed during “the dark days” of the Harper government. See: https://rsf.org/en/ranking.

RSF says that worldwide, journalists face increasing violence targeted at the media, state control that threatens democracy, and government misuse of counter-terrorism and counter-espionage laws.

The top ranking for World Press Freedom in 2016 goes to Finland. For Canadian journalists, it’s worth noting this from the April 2016 edition of “This is Finland” by Fran Weaver:

“Finland’s Council for Mass Media chairperson Elina Grundström emphasizes that long-standing Finnish legislation supports the freedom of the press by promoting transparency. “The Act on the Openness of Government Activities means all kinds of official documents are by default publicly available, except for very few documents justifiably designated as secret,” she says.

“…Finnish journalists appreciate this openness – which even extends to the tax payment records of individual citizens – as well as the relative approachability of Finnish politicians and business figures.”

See the full article at: http://finland.fi/life-society/finland-top-rated-for-press-freedom/