And for this scenario we can see that the world situation is not so good as the most optimistic viewers could immagine. And if we associate the freedom of the press to the economic position some countries have in the global context, the scenario could be even more worrying.
But we first need to see what is and what are the implications related to the degree of freedom of the press. We can see the freedom of the press as the possibility of the press to write, publish or show to the people, their vision of the what is happening in the homeland and in all the world, without any concerns about possible punishments. This means for example to turn on the TV at news time and see the news about anything about my home country or about another country, and see the information the most similar possible to the reality, without any deliberate interference to change the reality. The same if I decide to read a newspaper, to listen the radio or any other way to receive any kind of information.
From a country where the freedom is higher, this could see something so simple and basic that it's difficult to imagine a violation of this elementar people's right. The people must have the right to receive the real and accurate information about any subject. As citizens and members of the society, using the local, regional and global goods, making their own contribution for the society's wealth and welfare, the people have of course the right to receive the information in good quality about anything they want to know. And from the side of the people that provide the information, the same rules can be used. The people must have the freedom of search, make and turn out public the information. The right to know, it's seen as a basic right that anyone should have. Because in the countries where the degree of freedom is higher, only with an access of good and reliable information, the citizens can make the best choices and be more productive, efficient and effective for the society and economy. Only with the right information, the citizens can achieve their goals - so, the individual rights are above of the common rights in these countries - .
Let's see the other side. The countries with the lower degree of freedom of the press, have their own reasons which for them are the right ones. If the information is available for the public without having first an official authority to analyse it and to eliminate some information, or only parts of it, or the way it is transmitted, the people can make the wrong decisions, can be less productive, less efficient and effective, and can be a threat for the Government, the public institutions and for the society and the country itself. So, the common interest is above everything else.
I can present thousands of arguments defending and rejecting both ways of thinking. But we need to analyse something else.
A lack of information will never teach the people how to do the best choices and the countries with the higher degree of freedom are the most developed countries, with a higher respect of the human rights, and where the welfare is higher and the peace and institutional stability is higher.
And the freedom of the press has also an impact in the economic activity, in the policies decisions, in the public system, in the cultural, ideological and values' changes,
So, it seems that there must be a positive relation between degree of freedom and development. But this map shows a concerning scenario.
Let's analyse it by parts:
- Most developed countries: all of them, Western Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zeland, are in the best two positions of the scale. And despite the problems, many of them related to the economic crisis, or politic misunderstoods, the trend would be to itensify the increase in the degree of freedom.
- Emmerging economies / especially the BRIC's: it's impossible of course to analyse our world without taking into account the countries' economic role. As I explained here, the emerging economies, especially the BRIC's have an important role in the global economy, and the importance will continue to increase in the future. So, seeing that in almost all of these countries, especially the BRIC's an the emerging economies in Asia, that have been increasing their power in the global context, the degree of freedom is very low, is a matter of concern of global institutions.
- Less developed countries: especially Africa, this map shows the opposite side - that a low degree of freedom is an impediment for a healthy growth and development of the country and society.
What lesson can we take from this map? That the world has along way to go, and that the threat of a reverse in the improvement is a constant presence, which is harming the people's welfare and quality of life.
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