By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
Armenia remains the freest country for the press in the South Caucasus and one of the best in the entire former Soviet Union, the Paris-based non-profit Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, has determined.
In the latest edition of its yearly World Press Freedom Index, published Friday, Armenia ranks 34th out of 180 countries surveyed, with a score of 73.96 out of 100. That puts Armenia in what RSF calls as a “satisfactory situation” with regard to media freedom. While Armenia’s score had steadily risen in the years following the 2018 change of government, it has stagnated in recent years, increasing one and a half points this year and one point last year. However its rank has increased significantly this year due to a downturn in scores globally.
Like last year, the RSF report mentioned CivilNet as one of the “independent news sites” that are “thriving and are fulfilling an independent watchdog role that is essential in a democracy.” However it notes that “most broadcast and print media, affiliated with major political and commercial interests, continue to face pressure concerning their editorial policy.”
The report’s global summary mentions Armenia as one of the countries where “many outlets owe their survival to conditional financing from individuals close to the political or business worlds.”
The report states that “journalists are often subjected to pressure, insults and violence by both ruling party officials and opposition politicians, as well as their supporters,” and that such violence generally goes unpunished. Also criticized is the legal framework that regulates the sector, as it does not sufficiently protect freedom of the press nor follow European standards.
Armenia’s neighbors have all remained stagnant or decreased further this year. .
In particular, Georgia has dropped 11 positions/2.5 points to 114th place after falling 26 positions the year prior. The report cites a hostile environment for independent and opposition media, and says the adoption in 2024 of laws on “foreign influence” and “family values” marginalises journalists, exposes them to censorship and reduces space for free speech.
Azerbaijan also fell 2.5 points to a new low of 167th place, as it has “waged a merciless war against any remaining critics.” The report states that the Aliyev regime is trying to “suppress the last of the still-independent media, as well as journalists who reject self-censorship.” It also says that since the September 2023 offensive that ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population, “the crackdown has intensified and numerous journalists have been held behind bars.”
As for the rest of the region, Russia has dropped below Azerbaijan to 171st place, Turkey, with Iran even lower at 176th, while Turkey is little changed at 159th.
Armenia’s score makes it the highest ranking former Soviet country outside the European Union, just ahead of Moldova in 35th place/73.36 points. What’s more, Armenia is ahead of the United States for a second year in a row, which fell to 57th, as well as multiple EU countries, including Italy, Slovakia and Hungary.
The total score is evaluated based on five indicators, political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context and safety. Armenia’s worst by far continues to be the economic context. That is due to a lack of ownership transparency of media outlets and editorial independence in Armenia. The majority of media are controlled by figures close to political movements or specific public figures, while state-owned media refrains from any criticism of the government.
RSF’s report gives a bleak picture of the press freedom situation globally, saying the index stands at an “unprecedented, critical low as its decline continued in 2025. As a result, the global state of press freedom is now classified as a ‘difficult situation’ for the first time in the history of the Index.”
It points to economic pressure as a major factor, “due to ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers, and public aid that is restricted, absent or allocated in an opaque manner.”
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