Sri Lanka up 5 positions in World Press Freedom Index

Colombo (News 1st): Sri Lanka has moved up 5 positions in the World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders. This year, Sri Lanka is ranked 126 out of 180 countries where last year Sri Lanka was ranked 131. Sri Lanka makes the 126th rank in the index with a score of 39.61. The index has been topped by Norway and followed by Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland. At the bottom of the index lies Turkmenistan at 180. India was ranked 140 and the United States was ranked 48. According to the Reporters Without Borders, it is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country. The degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated.