Press freedom under attack around the world in 2018: IPI

Press freedom faced a slew of attacks around the world in 2018, as political leaders unwilling to accept scrutiny increasingly jail, prosecute or undermine the credibility of critical journalists, the International Press Institute (IPI) said on Friday.

The Vienna-based global organisation of editors, journalists and media executives in its Death Watch' said as many as 78 journalists were killed in 2018.

There is a growing movement, including in countries once seen as guarantors of fundamental rights, aimed at destroying the press as an institution of democracy," IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said.

This atmosphere of intolerance toward independent journalism is putting the lives and freedom of journalists at risk and threatening the public's right to know."