Media freedom around the world: New website offers rankings at a glance

The Media Freedom Navigator offers an interactive global map that shows users at a glance how organizations like Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House rank media freedom across the globe.

"With its projects around the world, DW Akademie contributes to the improvement of freedom of expression and media freedom. The facts and data from organizations that analyze developments in this area provide us with an important basis for our work," says DW Akademie Director, Christian Gramsch.

The Media Freedom Navigator provides a critical look at the ranking methodologies of various organizations by allowing users to call up information on how the rankings were compiled. A quiz with questions about media freedom and methodologies used in the rankings helps users test and expand their knowledge.

The website is aimed particularly at experts in the fields of media development, human rights and development policy, as well as researchers and journalists. "The Media Freedom Navigator is a tool for anyone who is interested in media freedom and freedom of expression. It provides comprehensive information at a glance. It also invites users to take a critical look at the statistics, so they can more accurately assess how things stand," says Petra Berner, Head of DW Akademie's Strategy and Consulting Services.

The site includes the following indices: the Freedom of the Press Index from Freedom House, the Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders, IREX's Media Sustainability Index, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Media Barometer, UNESCO's Media Development Indicators, and, in order to provide additional context, the UNDP's Human Development Index.

The basis for the website is a manual published by DW Akademie in 2014 called "Media Freedom Indices – What they tell us and what they don't", which analyzes the most important media freedom rankings. Both the manual and the website were funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).