International Research and Exchanges Board The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) is an international, nonprofit organization that specializes in global education and development. IREX works with partners in more than 100 countries. History IREX was established in 1968 by ...

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

Press Freedom Index The World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) is an annual ranking of Country, countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002 based upon the non-governmental organization's own assessment of the countries' Freedom of the ...

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

International Research and Exchanges Board The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) is an international, nonprofit organization that specializes in global education and development. IREX works with partners in more than 100 countries. History IREX was established in 1968 by ...

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

state department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.

Scoring process

In each country IREX compiles a panel of local experts who undertake the scoring. The recruited experts represent a broad range of local media workers (editors, reports, owners, managers, media development workers) of urban and rural populations, of the main local ethnic groups in addition to representatives from different geographic regions as well as representatives from academia,

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

’s and the legal field. All panelists receive the objectives, the indicators with descriptions and an explanation of how the scoring is done correctly. First each panel member individually completes the questionnaire and scores the indicators. In a second step the panelists get together to talk about the objectives and indicators. This discussion is written up by a panel moderator, mostly a representative of the country's media or an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. Then it is revised by IREX editorial staff. Panelists are allowed to change their scores during the discussion, but it is not promoted by IREX. In a third step the "IREX editorial staff review the panelists’ scores, and then score the country independently of the MSI panel" .

Comparing the MSI (IREX) to the Freedom of the Press Index (Freedom House)

The following two tables show a synopsis of the Media Sustainability Index (MSI) and the Freedom of the Press Index compiled by

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

. Table 1 compares the basic characteristics of the two indices, whereas table 2 is a more detailed analysis of the

questionnaire A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions (or other types of prompts) for the purpose of gathering information from respondents through survey or statistical study. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of ...

s.

Comparing the characteristics of the indices

First of all you can see in table 1 that there are some similarities between the indices. Both IREX and

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

have their headquarters in America, both are

nonprofit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, which receive financial support from the American government or from agencies like

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

or NED, which are subsidized on their part by the government. Furthermore, both indices measures are designed to evaluate characteristics of media systems from the point of view of elite evaluators. Means the survey in a certain country is conducted by experts of the media environment of the country concerned. But the two indices do not assess the same number of countries. The MSI rates 80 countries, whereas the Freedom of the Press Index rates more than twice as much countries. Another difference is that

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

captures all 196 countries in one annual report, which allows a comparison of all 196 countries at the same time, whereas IREX assesses the 80 countries in five studies (

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

,

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

&

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

&

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

), that are not published simultaneously and some of them not even annually. For example, the last report of Middle East & North Africa one can download is from 2009. This means it is not possible to compare the development of the media environment in the surveyed countries at the same time within one year. Another point is that

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

has measured Freedom of the Press since 1980, more than twenty years longer than IREX measures Media Sustainability. So it becomes evident that

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

has more experience in conducting these studies. Furthermore, the two indices have different underlying concepts. The underlying concept of the Freedom of the Press Index is to evaluate the status of press freedom in an individual country. IREX’s concept however is to assess how successful, independent, sustainable a media system is in an individual country and “how media systems change over time and across borders”. To evaluate their respective target they use different questionnaires and scoring systems. The scoring systems as one can see in table 1 do not have much in common. IREX uses scores from 0 to 4, in which 0 is the worst score. Freedom House uses scores from 0 to 100, in which 0 is the best score. In advance

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

attaches different importance to the questions by giving some questions higher scores than others. So the panelists score the questions of the Freedom of the Press Index with a different number of points. The scoring system of the MSI is constantly the same. The surveyed persons score each indicator from 0 to 4. For this reason the MSI questionnaire seems to be clearer and more transparent and the questions can be better compared to each other.

Comparing the questionnaires

At first glance the

questionnaire A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions (or other types of prompts) for the purpose of gathering information from respondents through survey or statistical study. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of ...

s appear to differ because of their different content and categories, their different structure and different number of questions, which you can see in table 1. But recent literature shows that there are similarities. For example, Becker and Vlad found out that although the indices pretend to measure different concepts (sustainable media vs. press freedom) they have a high

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

correlation In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics ...

( *Pearson r .87) across the years 2001 to 2007. This is so because press freedom is clearly a part of what the MSI assesses, because a media system cannot be sustainable without having a high level of press freedom. So press freedom is definitely one condition for a sustainable media system and therefore it becomes evident that the indices examine much the same phenomenon. It also explains why only about one-third of the questions could not be assigned in table 2 or why about two thirds of the questionnaires could be assigned. To find out what questions of the two indices really match and measure the same issues, the questionnaires need to be regarded in more detail. For that reason each single question of the two indices is compared to each other and assigned to new categories in table 2. Questions concerning the same subject but of two different indices are opposed to each other in two columns. If only one index measures a certain issue or category, the corresponding place in the second column remains empty, meaning this issue is not covered by the other index. As some questions contain different aspects, sometimes only one of the aspects fits to the associated question. To make this clear the non-fitting aspect is written in ''italics'' in table 2. The MSI as well as the Freedom of the Press Index contain questions concerning the following categories: * Protection of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

The questions are about legal protection for free speech. But there are slight differences between the questions. For example, the MSI includes social protection and a distinction between state and public media. The Freedom of the Press Index contains in addition or penalties of journalists and also the distinction between freedom of expression and freedom of the press. However, they both measure protection of free speech. * Free access to media In this category the questions are all about free access to media and its protection. Here the MSI specifies the protection against economic threats and law restrictions. Whereas the Freedom of the Press Index just asks about it in general. The MSI also makes a distinction between local and international sources and only the Freedom of the Press Index differentiates between official and unofficial sources. * Diversity of viewpoints The MSI has more than one question regarding this category because it specifies the viewpoints. Private and public news sources, niche reporting and programming, local, national and international information as well as social interests and minority languages should be reflected. This differentiation cannot be found in the Freedom of the Press Index. So Freedom House includes the access to plurality viewpoints, which is no subject within the MSI. *

Access to information Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access International Advisors, a h ...

Here the MSI differentiates between access to information for media, journalists and citizens, whereas the Index of Freedom House focuses more on existing laws protecting the access to information for journalists. * Entry to

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

s MSI compares the entry to the media market to entries to other industries. The Freedom of the Press Index operates in this category on a more specific and operational level. It includes both individuals and business entities, which can establish and operate media. And it also deals with the legal regulations for establishing media. * Crimes against media workers The Freedom of the Press Index distinguishes between crimes committed by the state, authorities and other actors and the type of crimes such as legal intimidation, physical violence. It examines if local and foreign journalists can work freely without harassments. The MSI deals with legal prosecution of the crime but does not specify the type of crime nor who commits the crime. Both indices, however, differentiate against whom crimes are committed. * Penalties for libeling The question about libeling asked by the Freedom of the Press Index concerns existing penalties for libeling officials or the state. The MSI relates more to the person who is defamed and what they can do to prevent libeling (e.g. public officials are held to higher standards, must prove falsity). Furthermore, the MSI question contains the aspect of the civil law against libeling. * Access to journalistic education Both indices ask if everyone has the freedom to become a professional journalist. But MSI also raises the question if there are restrictions against or special laws in favour of freedom. The Freedom of the Press Index instead contains the question if professional groups have the freedom to support journalists. This is just one example for the fact that the MSI as well as the Freedom of the Press Index sometimes ask two questions in one, which makes it difficult for the panelists to score. *

Self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

In this category the questions are relatively similar except that the MSI also queries the self-censorship of the editors. Another little difference is the fact that the MSI indicator is formulated negatively. *

Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

Only the Freedom of the Press Index differentiates between private and public payments. Overall the question about corruption is put more directly in the Freedom of the Press Index than in the MSI. The MSI asks in one question if the payment of journalists is high enough and if the quality standard of the journalists is good enough to prevent corruption. Put that way, the question concerning corruption seems less direct and aggressive in the MSI index. * Transparency of media ownership and of media concentration Both indices ask if media ownership and concentration allows transparency so that consumers are able to judge the content and have access to different points of view. In the Freedom of the Press Index the question to what extent the government controls the media and what impact control has on the diversity of views is put in a way that public broadcasting is subliminally criticized. IREX, however, words the question in a more positive way. The way of putting a question, the choice of words may have an influence on the valuation. *

Subvention A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...

system Again the question of the Freedom of the Press Index is asked more directly than the MSI one. It focuses on the control-aspect someone (state or other actors) can have through subsidies or advertising. By contrast the MSI indicator deals more with a fair and law-based distribution of subsidies and advertising that promotes editorial independence. But the MSI question does not refer to subsidies and advertising from other actors than the government. * External media bodies and evaluations Here all questions are put positively. But they contain different external media bodies. Whereas the MSI indicators include independent broadcasting ratings and market researches and its duties, the question of the Freedom of the Press Index includes independent media regulatory bodies like the communications council. * Distribution and production restrictions The MSI questions in this category are more detailed. They divide production and distribution in their different branches like media equipment, newsprint, and printing facilities, kiosks, transmitters, cable, Internet, mobile. And again the questions are devised positively with words like apolitical or not restricted. In contrast the Freedom of the Press Index does not divide production and distribution in different branches and here again the question is asked in a direct way in order to get an exact answer to what it wants to measure: the restrictions. * Political parallelism These questions examine to what extent the state, politicians or others affect or influence the media content and diversity. Again the MSI question is put in a more positive way due to the use of positive adjectives, whereas the Freedom of the Press Index uses negatively connoted verbs like ''determine''. Generally speaking, the Freedom of the Press Index operates with more direct questions and on a more restrictive level. The questions mostly refer to possible media restrictions, influences or control by someone or something. As already indicated by its name, this way of asking questions shows the Freedom of the Press Index's main concern and underlying concept - that is the freedom of the press. This concept of the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

must be seen together with "the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information".Freedom House, 2012 So the Freedom of the Press Index also includes for example questions about independent

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, censorship and the impact of the overall economic stability on the media, subjects that are not covered by the MSI. The MSI, however, operates on a wider field. That means it also focuses on professional standards, quality journalism, trainees for journalists, modern technical facilities for distributing and infrastructure,

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s supporting free media, and the existence of private media as one can see in table 2. But one should keep in mind that both indices have an American bias underlying their measures and concepts. Therefore, the indices may not fit perfectly in order to access

media freedom Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is int ...

in countries with a different cultural background.

Footnotes

References

* Becker, L. B., & Vlad, T. (2011). The Conceptualization and Operationalization of Country-Level Measures of Media Freedom. In S. Abbott, L. Morgan, & M. E. Price (Eds.), Measures of Press Freedom and Media Contributions to Development. Evaluating the Evaluators (pp. 23–45). New York: Peter Lang. * Burgess, J. (2010). Evaluating the Evaluators: Media Freedom Indexes and What They Measure. Washington, DC: National Endowment for Democracy. * Freedom House (2012). ‘Freedom of the Press 2011. Methodology’; at: http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press-2011/methodology (accessed 24 March 2012). * Godfrey, A., McCurdy, P., Power, G. (2011). When Theory meets Practice: Critical Reflection from the Field on Press Freedom indices. In S. Abbott, L. Morgan, & M. E. Price (Eds.), Measures of Press Freedom and Media Contributions to Development. Evaluating the Evaluators (pp. 47–66). New York: Peter Lang. * Holtz-Bacha, C. (2011). Freedom of the Press: Is a Worldwide Comparison possible and What is it Good For? In S. Abbott, L. Morgan, & M. E. Price (Eds.), Measures of Press Freedom and Media Contributions to Development. Evaluating the Evaluators (pp. 129–142). New York: Peter Lang. * IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board) (2012a). ‘Media Sustainability Index (MSI)’; at: http://www.irex.org/project/media-sustainability-index-msi (accessed 24 March 2012). * IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board) (2012b). ‘Media Sustainability Index (MSI) Methodology’; at: https://archive.today/20130415020833/http://www.irex.org/resource/media-sustainability-index-msi-methodology (accessed 24 March 2012).

Framework

Comparing the MSI (IREX) to the Freedom of the Press Index (Freedom House)

Comparing the characteristics of the indices

Comparing the questionnaires

Footnotes

See also

References

Further reading

External links