Once again, the Marshall Islands is the highest ranked country in the Pacific for media freedom and democracy, according to the annual Freedom in the World Ranking by Freedom House.
The RMI received a score of 93 out of 100, which was tied only by Tuvalu. The two other freely associated states, Palau and the FSM, ranked the next highest in the region, with scores of 92
Kiribati came in next at 89, Samoa received an 84, Vanuatu scored 82, and Nauru scored 75. All of these showed no change from last year, according to Freedom House.
But both the Solomon Islands and Tonga dropped: Solomons to 74 out of 100 and Tonga to 79. Fiji improved slightly to 72.
The RMI has maintained this high ranking for over a decade. “Palau and the Marshall Islands rank number one and two, respectively, in freedom of the press in the Asia/Pacific region, according to a report on media freedom issued last week,” the Journal reported in the May 11, 2012 edition of the newspaper.
Of 197 nations rated globally at that time, Palau ranked number 16 and the Marshall Islands ranked 17, the Freedom House annual global press freedom report said in 2012.
In the latest Freedom House report, for comparison, New Zealand ranked as one of the top nations in the world with a near perfect freedom score of 99. The Rankings for both the United States and Australia declined, though Australia’s only moderately so. The US scored 81 and Australia 94 in the latest Freedom House review.
World Press Freedom Day, May 3, is a United Nations-designated day marked annually in many countries.
For the second year in a row, the Majuro-based non-profit group Pacific Media Institute has sponsored a “Telling Your Pacific Story” short film contest to celebrate the day. With the support of the Taiwan government, PMI will be providing over $4,000 in cash prizes to winners of the contest.
Over a dozen original films, many made by Marshallese, were submitted by the deadline at the end of last month.
A panel of judges from around the region is reviewing the films to rank them for the prizes.
Many of the films will be shown as part of an event to mark World Press Freedom Day this Saturday evening at the Marshall Islands Resort, starting from 6:30pm.
Other sponsors of the World Press Freedom film contest are Six9Too Productions, the Marshall Islands Journal, Microwave Films, Corrieography, and the University of the South Pacific Majuro Campus.
[jetpack_subscription_form title=“Subscribe” subscribe_button=”Sign Me Up” show_subscribers_total=”1″]