Residents of many countries are becoming less likely to say their media have a lot of freedom.
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Across 131 countries in 2015, a median 61% of residents said the media in their country have a lot of freedom - a figure that has been edging downward since 2012.
These worsening public perceptions of media freedom coincide with declining worldwide ratings from Freedom House, the watchdog organization that released its 2016 Freedom of the Press report Tuesday on World Press Freedom Day.
The report states that 2015 was the worst year for global press freedom in more than a decade, citing the influence of extreme political polarization in media outlets in many countries and the effects of violence and intimidation against journalists from governments and extremist groups.
Gallup's 2015 country-level survey results correspond fairly closely with the expert assessments that Freedom House compiled, suggesting that in many cases, residents are well-attuned to the problems in their country's media environment and make decisions about which news sources to rely on accordingly.
Many of the countries in which perceptions of media freedom are weakest are those where government control over mainstream media remains prevalent.
Tied with Gabon for the country in which residents are least likely to say their media are free is Syria, where society has been torn apart by warring factions over the past five years. Fewer than one in four in either of these countries perceive their media as having a lot of freedom.
It should be noted that in several countries, such as China and Iran, the question was too sensitive to include in the survey.
In countries with relatively transparent democratic institutions, including the U.S., Canada, Australia and most Western European nations, residents are far more likely to say their media have a lot of freedom.
Scandinavia leads the world on this measure: the perception is nearly universal in Finland (97%), Denmark (95%), Sweden (95%) and Norway (94%). All four countries are also among the six most highly rated by Freedom House.
Americans are somewhat less united in this perception; 81% say the country's media have a lot of freedom. ■