The Silent Strangulation of Press Freedom: How Economic Threats Are Killing Journalism

The Reporters without borders 2025 index is bad news for democracy

The 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index that was just released paints a grim picture: for the first time in history, the global state of press freedom has been classified as a “difficult situation.” And by “difficult,” they mean a complete dumpster fire. While violence against journalists remains a visible crisis and a headline grabber—it’s hard to ignore a bullet or a bomb—but the real villain here is the economic fragility of modern media. It’s the slow, sneaky killer, like an infestation in the foundations of democracy.

The collapse of traditional media economics means journalism doesn’t pay very well, and news outlets are going bankrupt without state intervention. Newsrooms are caught in a Catch-22 that would make Joseph Heller proud: do they stick to their principles and report the truth, or do they sell their souls to stay afloat? The economic indicator of the RSF Index has hit rock bottom, with media in 160 out of 180 countries struggling financially, if they’re still open. In nearly a third of nations, news outlets are shutting down faster than an over-priced coffee shop during a recession (coming your way soon).

Who Controls the Money Controls the News: A Tale of Greed and Graft

The crisis is driven by three forces that are not stakeholders in the traditional sense but hold stakes over the heart of journalism.

Tech Giants’ Stranglehold – Tech companies hoovered up $247 billion in advertising revenue in 2024, a 14% increase since 2023, leaving traditional media fighting over the crumbs. These platforms are like vultures circling a dying gazelle, except the gazelle is journalism, and the vultures are making billions off cat videos and fake news. Studies have shown that posts on X, META and LinkedIn with links get significantly less reach, unless you’re subscribed or have a reputable news media app on your device. Social media now controls most of the news you see and pushes paid linked posts over reliable news sources.

Oligarchs & State Capture – In Russia (171st), Hungary (68th), Turkey (159th) and even France (25th), the media is controlled by very wealthy elites or governments, turning news into propaganda. It’s like Orwell’s 1984, only with high-speed propaganda and Wi-Fi.

Conditional Funding – From Saudi Arabia (162nd) to India (151st), outlets usually only survive by pleasing their political masters or corporate sugar daddies. It’s hard to report the truth when getting paid depends on not doing so.

A World Where Journalism Is a Crime: The Red Map of Doom

The global map is turning redder by the year. In 42 countries—home to half the world’s population—press freedom is now “very serious.” Gaza (163rd) has seen 200 journalists killed in 18 months. Russia, the land of Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, and now, tragically, state-sanctioned silence, has slid down to 171st place in the press freedom rankings, trailing even Belarus at a dismal 166th. Both countries have been in the grip of authoritarian absurdity for the last two decades.

Russia’s not alone in this carnival of censorship. It’s joined by the usual suspects: Eritrea, North Korea, China, and Iran, a veritable rogues’ gallery of regimes where journalism is dead. In these places, the press isn’t just muzzled—it’s kidnapped, murdered, tortured and buried in an unmarked grave. Media outlets? More like propaganda puppets, dancing to the tune of their overlords, where the threat of death is omnipresent.

Europe, the last bastion of free press, Norway (1st) and Estonia (2nd), my own country, Ireland (7th), the top ten countries are all European, but Eastern Europe is cracking under pressure, Hungary is 68th and even Italy is now slumped to 49th.

The reason Ireland ranks 7th is because one political party, Sinn Féin, use what’s known as (SLAPPS) Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. Which means Sinn Féin likes to sue their critics in the courts. Sinn Féin was the terrorist IRA’s political wing during the Troubles and is now Ireland’s biggest opposition party.

The United States’ ranking fell to 57th—a slip of two places—should raise alarms among advocates of free speech. America, the so-called land of the free, has long championed press freedom as a foundational value, yet recent events reveal a complex and deeply troubled landscape marred by political polarisation, disinformation, and threats to journalists. There are African countries with a higher ranking than the United States, Ghana (52nd), Liberia (54th) and Sierra Leone (56th). Democracy is failing because journalism is dying is not a trend or fad; it’s bleeding to death before our very eyes.

Without urgent action, journalism will become a luxury item, like artisanal cheese or West Cork wine. The solutions are out there: antitrust measures against tech monopolies, transparent public funding, and protections for editorial independence. But let’s be honest—all those actions require political will, and like journalism, the political will to do anything substantive unless you live in a totalitarian dictatorship is at an all-time low globally.

The much-repeated Bob Woodward quote, “democracy dies in darkness”, is wrong for the times we live in. Democracy is dying in the harsh, sterile glare of our devices. It’s artificial beacon pierces the brain with its cold, blue-tinged, soul sucking intensity. Its apps are the opioids of a generation. People around the world who endeavour to highlight the war crimes and the profound injustices that should shape our collective consciousness are being tortured and rotting in prisons, while the rest of us take sides for and against people who are mean to each other on the internet.

Mental health professionals, experts, and politicians, everyone will admit that social media and the millions of apps that populate our everyday existence are killing society. It's turning a new generation into drooling imbeciles who can barely finish typing a sentence without using A.I. It’s killing mental health, sex lives, attention spans, and how we communicate on a very basic level; it is killing everything, even the environment. The last thing to die will be journalistic freedoms, and with it democracy. You might laugh now, but you’ll find it distressingly ironic as you plead for your life when someone shoves a gun in your mouth and is about the pull the trigger, because of a post you made to social media criticising the regime’s recent crackdown on free speech.

(Yes, I’m aware I’m posting this article to the internet using an app.)