Authoritarian leaders are encouraging hostility toward journalists, according to 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Press freedom has deteriorated significantly in Europe over the past year, as hostility toward the press grows globally, according to the 2018 World Press Freedom Index. The index, which surveys press freedom in 180 countries and is compiled by Reporters Without Borders, finds that more and more democratically elected leaders are engaging in media bashing, a phenomenon it said is no longer confined to authoritarian regimes such as Turkey. The United States, where president Donald Trump has called reporters “enemies of the people,” fell two places this year to 45th. Press freedom is not just about media and journalists. It concerns every citizen. The media industry is not just another ‘business as usual’. It plays a crucial role as a platform for every social group to express itself, to provide every citizen with access to information so that they can participate fully in political processes and make informed choices. Every day journalists risk their lives to help inform us. In 2018 alone 73 journalists were killed, 119 kidnapped, and 199 arrested. Press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2018, as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power, according to the most recent report from Freedom House. Freedom of Press is considered an essential element of democracy. World Press Freedom Day is marked on 3 May each year.

Mexico’s booming media industry is controlled by some of the richest businessmen on earth. While the sector grows at a rate three times that of the overall economy, an alarming concentration of media ownership goes hand in hand with the well-known lack of safety for Mexico’s journalists, many of whom cannot even make a living from their precarious salaries, increasing their vulnerability to pressures of all kinds. The almost traditional concentration of a lot of power in the hands of very few media magnates and politicians also comes as a result of blatant regulatory flaws. In Mexico it is also common for the owners of broadcasting concessions to be legislators at the same time. A striking feature while analyzing Mexico’s most relevant media outlets was that most of the owners can be described as billionaires, magnates, powerful, influential. In most cases, their actual wealth is not known to the public, since it remains mostly hidden in tax heavens or dubious trust funds. Their names, however, keep appearing in business magazines that follow their trails. On the 2018 Forbes list of wealthiest Mexicans, the names of three owners or shareholders in the most influential media appear in the top16: Carlos Slim Helú (UnoTV), Ricardo Salinas Pliego (TV Azteca) and Emilio Azcárraga Jean (Televisa). Despite their personal wealth, the media owners in Mexico pay precarious salaries: In March 2018, the human resources platform Indeed estimated the average salary of a Mexican reporter, based on 835 job offerings, at 4,560 Mexican pesos or 245 US Dollars per month. In comparison, the average monthly wage in Mexico is 390 US Dollars. In 2017 alone, at least eleven journalists were murdered in Mexico in direct connection with their work. For instance, Friday will mark the first anniversary of the murder of Miroslava Breach in Chihuahua on March 23rd last year. 2018 has seen another journalists’ murder with the killing of Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez in Tamaulipas on January 13th. Mexico was ranked 147th out of 180 countries in the 2017 edition of RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.

Power in Brazil means family business, both traditionally and to this very day. Dynasties of landowners known as “Colonels” extend their territorial claims to the airwaves, combining economic and political interests with tight control of public opinion. Neither digital technology and the rise of the internet nor occasional regulatory efforts seem to pose a serious challenge to these oligopolies. A joint investigation by the Brazilian NGO Intervozes and Reporters Without Borders between July and October 2017 now shows who are the key players and what are their respective other interests. The investigation comprises the 50 most important media outlets in Brazil and the 26 corporate groups owning them. Transparency about ownership of media companies remains low as there is no legal obligation for companies to disclose their shareholder structure. None of them answered the MOM team’s requests in this regard. Although prohibited by the Brazilian Constitution, as of today 32 federal deputies and eight senators are involved in media companies, even if they are not always formal owners of any of major media holdings. In most cases, however, political ties with mass media are forged through network structures and commercial agreements, according to which most big national broadcasters sublicense their brand and content to local companies at the state level. These affiliates then serve as re-broadcasters, but more importantly offer a vehicle for co-ownership by local strongmen (very rarely strongwomen). In several states, the big networks' affiliates are controlled by regional stakeholders representing either politicians directly or families with a political tradition, which are usually invested in more than one media sector. This phenomenon has come to be known as "electronic Coronelism", alluding to the traditional Brazilian pattern of landownership. No mechanism is in place in Brazil to prevent the same company from controlling radio, TV, newspaper and online outlets. On the contrary, the country’s media system appears to be built on cross-ownership, which reinforces ownership concentration in the hands of a small number of groups. This applies at the national as well as at the state and local levels.

Media freedom has increasingly come under attack in many countries across Africa with journalists targeted for exposing corruption and human rights violations, said Amnesty International ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. In West and Central Africa violations of media freedom continue unabated. From Gambia to Cameroon, journalists are either threatened or forced into exile because of their work. Over the past few years, repressive governments in the region passed legislation restricting and undermining the right to freedom of expression. A number of media outlets have come under direct attack from their governments, facing intimidation and harassment, with some media houses being shut down. East Africa - Journalists have been arrested arbitrarily, tortured and sentenced on spurious charges over the past year because of their work. We have seen systematic attacks against journalists during election periods. In countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Angola we are seeing a disturbing pattern of journalists being targeted simply for doing their work. Journalism is not a crime. It is a profession like any other and it should be seen as such.

You've probably heard of Kodansha, but that company isn't the only publisher in Japan. Here are short profiles of the seven Japanese companies on our top fifty list. Bungeishunjū Ltd. established in 1923 by the writer Kan Kikuchi, is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine Bungeishunjū. It also grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, established in 1935, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as the annual Naoki Prize for popular novelists. They also grant the annual Bungeishunjū Manga Award for achievement in Manga literature. The publishing company Bungeishunjū is well established by its tradition of discovering new literary talent. It also keeps a high profile in freedom of speech and in anti-piracy issues. Gakken was founded in 1946 by Hideto Furuoka as an educational book and magazine publisher and producer of educational toys. In late 2009, Gakken Co. Ltd. was turned into a holding company named GakkenHoldings Co. Ltd. Gakken caters to the Japanese school market, notably the preparatory and children's markets as well as the general culture and daily living markets. Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. is a well-known Japanese publisher, based in Tokyo. Kadokawa has published many manga titles as well as magazines, such as Newtype. In recent years, it has expanded into the multimedia sector (namely video games) and now owns the former Daiei Motion Picture Company. The company was founded on April 2, 1954 and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Kodansha publishes manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. Founded in 1896, Shinchosha Publishing Company publishes general literature, fiction, non-fiction, fine arts, philosophy and dictionaries as well as Mangas. It also sponsors four art prizes, collectively known as the 'Four Shincho Prizes' (Shincho Yonsho). Established: August 8,1922, foundet by Takeo Oga , the grandfather of today's president Masahiro Oga . Shogakukan was founded primarily as an educational publishing company which published educational magazines for elementary school students as well as instructional magazines for teachers. The variety of publications then gradually expanded to pre-school children's magazines, general magazines and book publications such as illustrated reference books, dictionaries and encyclopedias. Shueisha is a major publisher in Japan, headquartered in Tokyo and the largest manga publisher in the world with an alleged market share in Japan of 30%. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Shueisha's Jump Comics division is a large publisher of manga. Like Kodansha, Shueisha has close ties to the Walt Disney Company, since it has published books based on the Kingdom Hearts Game.