A comparison of a new index based on the Media Pluralism Monitor with some other indices ranking freedom of expression

Abstract:

Raise your hand if you have never heard about countries’ rankings on freedom of expression, freedom of the media, media independence, which are produced every year by NGOs like Reporters without Borders or Freedom House. These organizations produce popular indices that rank countries worldwide according to different sets of indicators examining freedom of expression and of the media.

These indices are influential and much quoted in policy documents and they also have some impact on international relations. The aim of this paper is twofold: a) to present, for the first time, a ranking of European Union Member States, Montenegro and Turkey, in terms of media pluralism, deriving it from the results of the Media Pluralism Monitor conducted by the CMPF at the EUI (the 2016 round, published in 2017); b) to compare this new MPM ranking with the scores and rankings provided by the indices of Reporters without Borders and Freedom House published in 2017 and relating to the same EU and accession countries.

The MPM ranking is clearly different from the other two indices. These two indices, at least in the results, appear very similar, showing very strong correlations. A comparison exercise shows that the relatively mild correlation between the MPM and the other two indices may be explained by external factors, like a country’s population and GDP per capita, and it provides a preliminary interpretation of the differences.