Sub-Saharan Africa has not avoided the latest international decline in press freedom. Hatred towards journalists, attacks on investigative reporters, censorship (especially online and on social networks), and economic and judicial harassment all undermined independent reporting and quality journalism in a continent where press freedom saw significant changes in 2018.
The situation in Namibia (23rd), newly restored to its position as Africa's best-ranked country, Burkina Faso (36th) and Senegal (49th), which all have pluralist media, has little in common with the situation in Eritrea (178th) and Djibouti (173rd), which are information black holes where no independent media are permitted. As in 2017, the situation in 22 of sub-Saharan Africa's 48 countries is classified as either "bad" (red on the map) or "very bad" (black).
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