Reporters Without Borders has ranked Sri Lanka in 162nd place out of 179 countries in the annual "Press Freedom Index 2013", as media freedom in the island continues to suffer.

The report, entitled "Dashed Hopes Follow Spring", also placed Sri Lanka in the category of "very serious situation", in the world press freedom map.

Speaking about the report, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said,

“The Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders does not take direct account of the kind of political system but it is clear that democracies provide better protection for the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information than countries where human rights are flouted,”

“In dictatorships, news providers and their families are exposed to ruthless reprisals, while in democracies news providers have to cope with the media’s economic crises and conflicts of interest. While their situation is not always comparable, we should pay tribute to all those who resist pressure whether it is aggressively focused or diffuse”.

Sri Lanka was ranked 163rd in last year's report.

See examples of media freedom in the island, in our earlier posts:

SL military intimidate journalists trying to see IDPs (30 September 2012)

Military stops journalist from visiting IDPs (28 September 2012)

Gothabaya threatens newspaper editor ‘will be killed’ (09 July 2012)

Rajapaksa tells Sri Lankan media to broadcast the truth (30 March 2012)