A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LEVEL AND PRESS FREEDOM

• Published in: Ulakbilge Dergisi
• Main Author: İnci TARI
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Turkish
• Published: Sada Institute of Art and Language Studies 2018
• Subjects: Economic development; GDP; Press freedom; Social sciences (General); H1-99; Canada; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7816/ulakbilge-06-21-01; https://doaj.org/article/ced589ec92004046a5303530a3e636f7

Nowadays, Press Freedom is a widely discussed topic and it is often perceived as an indicator of being democratic and developed. Freedom of expression and press freedom are an indispensable part of social development. Therefore, expecting a free press from developed countries is a natural consequence. G7 countries consisting of United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy and France are considered as major developed countries by many international organizations. According to 2017 World Economic Outlook published by International Monetary Fund, G7 countries hold 74.1% of developed countries’ GDP total as well as 31% of global GDP. The argument of this study is that although economic development is a prerequisite for being developed in terms of press freedom, G7 countries which are considered to be the most developed countries of the world are not equally developed in terms of press freedom. To support this argument, top 10 countries in terms of GDP and top 10 countries in terms of GDP per capita have been determined using 2016 data and the countries that are not classified as “developed” by international institutions are eliminated. A group of 13 developed countries is formed including G7 countries which already hold a place in top 10 GDP ranking plus Luxemburg, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Iceland and Denmark. This group has been analyzed both analytically and statistically in terms of their ranking of economic development and press freedom. As a result of the analysis, it has been concluded that given their level of economic development, G7 countries are not standing where they should be in terms of press freedom.