“In 2002, the number of countries said to be facing “grave” difficulties with press freedom was 13.7 percent. Now, it’s more than half.”
This was just one of the key insights that JHR President Rachel Pulfer shared to a room of both journalists and the general public during the Liberty of the Press in The World panel at the Festival International de Journalism in Carleton-sur-Mer, curated by Bertin Leblanc. The panel featured Pulfer, JHR and Reporters without Borders board member Michel Cormier and Le Devoir war correspondent Patrice Senecal.
Moderator Luce Cormier led the conversation on the current state of press freedom around the world and what, meaningfully, can be done about it.
The news is not good. Back in 2002, when Reporters Without Borders first started its global index, the number of countries enjoying “good” levels of press freedom was over 20%. Now, it’s less than 1%. The number of journalists killed covering the war between Israel and Gaza is greater than those killed in the First and Second World Wars and Vietnam combined. The picture globally is bleak.
That said, there are several bright spots. Syria is one of them. Formerly close to last during the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the country jumped 36 places in 2025, leaping up to 140th . A big part of the reason for this, said Cormier, is the work of Journalists for Human Rights.
“Ten years ago, Zein Almoghraby, now director of international programs for JHR, said to me that we should be working with journalists in Syria,” JHR president Rachel Pulfer said. “I consulted the press freedom index and said, ‘no way.’ JHR’s policy is to work with countries where there is at least some press freedom; Syria at the time was a black box.”
Almoghraby persisted, pointing out the value of working with journalists and human rights defenders from exile, in preparation for the day when regime change would come, and Pulfer worked with him to secure a first grant. Ten years later, Pulfer explained, JHR is now working to support Syrian journalists as they return to Damascus. Of the nine journalists invited to help the new government craft a code of conduct governing the relationship between the state and the media, three are JHR-trained. Many more are moving their outlets back to Syria. All this, Cormier said, helps to explain Syria’s excellent showing in this year’s press freedom index. “We are now following the same theory of change working with journalists in exile from Afghanistan, Russia and Belarus,” Pulfer said. “When regime change comes, we will be ready.”
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