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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Jim Waterson Media editor

Record 28 countries rated ‘very bad’ in press freedom index

German journalists protest outside the Russian consulate in Munich with a banner reading 'Putin, journalists will never be silent’
German journalists protest outside the Russian consulate in Munich with a banner reading 'Putin, journalists will never be silent’. Photograph: Sachelle Babbar/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock

A record 28 countries are rated “very bad” places for journalism in the World Press Freedom Index, which warns that autocratic regimes are increasingly willing to crack down on independent media outlets.

Billions of people in countries including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan struggle to access journalism produced without intervention from politicians, with reporters in these places often facing threats to their wellbeing.

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