India has been ranked 151st out of 180 nations in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday. While this marks a slight improvement from its 159th position in 2024 and 161st in 2023, the country continues to fall within the index’s most critical category: "very serious”

The RSF, a nonprofit that has assessed global press conditions since 2002, attributes India’s low standing in part to the increasing concentration of media ownership among politically connected individuals — posing a significant threat to media diversity.

This year’s report paints a bleak global picture, categorising the state of press freedom worldwide as being in a "difficult situation" for the first time. RSF cited economic pressures as a key driver behind this decline, suggesting that financial instability is eroding the independence and quality of journalism.

Website: rsf.org

In South Asia, India trails behind neighbours like Nepal (90th), Maldives (104th), Sri Lanka (139th), and Bangladesh (149th), though it ranks ahead of Bhutan (152nd), Pakistan (158th), Myanmar (169th), Afghanistan (175th), and China (178th).

At the top of the list, Norway, Estonia, and the Netherlands lead in press freedom.

The index evaluates countries based on five key criteria: political context, economic factors, legal environment, social issues, and safety.

Anne Bocandé, RSF’s editorial director, emphasised the vital link between financial stability and media freedom. “Without economic independence, press freedom cannot thrive,” she said. Bocandé warned that struggling media outlets often compromise journalistic integrity in a bid to capture audiences, leaving them vulnerable to influence by wealthy elites and government interests.

She called for urgent reforms to create a media economy that supports quality journalism. “Reliable, independent news is costly to produce,” she noted. “Safeguarding financial autonomy is essential for ensuring access to trustworthy information that truly serves the public.”