Yemen Monitor/Special
Yemen has dropped 14 places in the global press freedom, to rank 168 after being at 154 last year in 2023 according to “Reporters Without Borders” today, Friday.
The organization attributed this decline to the ongoing military conflict since 2014, which continues to tear the country apart, resulting in extremely serious consequences for press freedom.
The organization pointed out that the Yemeni media scene remains divided between various conflicting parties, with no option but to either reconcile with the ruling authority based on the area of control or face sanctions.
The organization stated, “While Saba News Agency is under the official government’s control, Al-Masdar newspaper remains close to Al-Islah party, while Al-Masirah TV remains the main platform for the Houthis. Access to electronic media remains restricted since the Houthis control of the Ministry of Communications.”
In the political context, the organization’s report states that media outlets are controlled by various conflicting parties, indicating that independent information is nearly absent in Yemen, especially as foreign journalists rarely have access to conflict zones.
The organization emphasized that “journalists in Yemen are subject to surveillance and can be arrested simply for posting on social media platforms. Even when they change their profession to avoid persecution, they remain vulnerable to prosecution due to their previous writings.”
It noted that “journalists work in an extremely complex legal environment in Yemen,” pointing out that the current laws are far from the reality, knowing that journalists only gain the approval of authorities by showing loyalty to them.
According to the organization’s report, businessmen and politicians exploit the economic deterioration and worsening living conditions to buy the loyalty of journalists and seize media platforms, which can only operate freely if they have an alternative source of income.
In this regard, funding resources are limited to media loyal to the ruling authorities, businessmen, religious symbols or political figures, the report says
Regarding security, the organization of “Reporters Without Borders” report indicated that journalists face the risk of abduction, whether by the Houthis, Al-Qaeda, or the official government, and are subjected to various violations by militias, including attacks, assassinations, and death threats.
Following the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in 2023, the four journalists who were detained by the Houthis and sentenced to death on charges of spying for the Arab coalition led by Riyadh were released.
