Iceland is in 21st place in the Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2015, down by 13 places since 2014. The other Nordic countries are all in the top five spots with Finland in first place, followed by Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands and Sweden.
Iceland, as one of the “fallers,” “paid the price of worsening relations between politicians and media. The drop was an alarm call for this ‘model of democracy,’” as reasoned in the index under “The most striking developments in the 2015 edition.”
Overall, freedom of the press and freedom of information is deteriorating. This is said to be a consequence of wars, the growing threat from non-state operatives, violence during demonstrations and the economic crisis.
