World Press Freedom Index |04 May 2023

Seychelles slips 21 places to 34th overall

Seychelles has slipped 21 spots to settle in 34th position on the 2023 World Press Freedom Index released yesterday by the Reporters Without Borders

Ranked 13th globally and first in Africa in 2022, Seychelles was among 180 countries evaluated by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), for their environment for journalism.

The country has scored 75.71 on the indicators it was measured on namely political, economic, social, legislative and security.

In its statement, Reporters Without Borders cited that “attacks on journalists are quite rare” in Seychelles and these mostly take place on social media, with political party activists generally responsible. It also cited that “two journalists were banned from covering the president’s press conference at the end of 2022, for no official reason”.

Giving his reaction following the ranking, the chairperson of the Association of the Media Practitioners Seychelles (AMPS), Rassin Vannier, said the ranking could have been influenced by the methodology used this year, which was different to that of previous years, where instead of evaluating institutions and laws, RSF has focused mostly on the person practising the profession.

"So it is a bit difficult to compare the 2022 ranking to that of 2023 if we are to base them on the methodology used,” he stated.

However, he added that despite losing 21 spots, Seychelles remains in the group labelled as ‘satisfactory’. “So we have the possibility to improve our ranking in the coming years,” stated Mr Vannier.

He added that to ensure that Seychelles does not slip further, journalists should be more proactive and engage themselves “to explain what is their role and functions because it seems that sometimes people, and authorities, do not understand our role and their expectations are high”.

For her part Ombudsman Nichole Tirant-Gherardi said she was yet to see the ranking to see why Seychelles has slipped, however the ranking was discouraging.

“I think again it underscores the importance of staying focused,” she said, adding that the country should keep going and try to identify what has led to this.

“If you assume there are areas where you are doing well, try to identify the areas where you are weak and fix and improve on those.”

The ruling party, Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) issued a strong statement deploring the ranking stating it was “unfair and unjustifiable”.

“During the last year no journalists have been killed in the line of duty in the country; none have been sentenced to jail or fined by the court; no media houses have been forced out of business by the government; while all branches of government have maintained an open-door policy to the media,” it stated.

It added there had been efforts for greater access to information with the cabinet mandating the vice-president to give a weekly press conference on the cabinet decisions; the National Assembly is broadcast live weekly on both radio and television; and increased court reporting, while all ministries, departments and agencies have a social media presence that gives the general public a direct forum for feedbacks.

It further added that since the change of administration in October 2020, all pillars of the country’s democracy are now under greater scrutiny especially by members of the public.

“This is by itself a very good indication of the vibrancy of freedom of expression, which the media is also enjoying and which LDS fully endorses,” it stated.

For her part, media practitioner Tessa Henderson said the slip was inevitable considering the various incidents involving media that happened during the past year, especially the constant harassment and threats on social media.

“Citizens have a right to criticise the media and their work but we should be very cautious as to how this is done because although it may look harmless to us locally, to the international bodies monitoring the environment and climate journalists work in, these are not good signs,” she said.

Ms Henderson also called for the need to educate citizens and the authorities about the role and functions of the media, because she said the profession and its importance are sometimes overlooked.

“Citizens need to be educated and journalists need to know and understand their rights as well as their responsibility, know their roles and functions as watchdogs for citizens and as well as for accountability.  If we cannot hold leaders and decision makers accountable, then we might as well go work on social media,” concluded Ms Henderson.

It should be noted that in 2021 Seychelles improved its ranking for a third consecutive year, climbing 11 spots to 52nd place. In 2022, it scored 83.33 jumping 39 places to be ranked 13th worldwide and first in Africa.

Meanwhile, RSF described through the latest ranking the situation as “very serious” in 31 countries, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “good” or “satisfactory” in 52 countries.

It stated that in general the environment for journalism is “bad” in seven out of 10 countries, and satisfactory in only three out of 10.

Norway stays at number one for the seventh year running, followed by Ireland and Denmark in second and third positions.

Patsy Canaya