This year, however, RSF said it used a new method that blends each country's political, legal, economic, sociocultural and security conditions. The group's annual report ranks 180 countries based on the environment for independent journalism. He said the prevalence of partisan news around the world has come at the expense of authentic journalism. 'In 2022, it's really undeniable that media polarization and information chaos are really fueling social divisions in ways that are pretty new,' said Clayton Weimers, deputy director of RSF for the United States, told VOA. The journalism watchdog group said its findings are worrying, as they show deep divisions among media within countries and between countries at the international level. In its 2022 World Press Freedom Index released Tuesday, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has contributed vastly to the spread of fake news and propaganda. Led by the Kremlin's example, a global rise in disinformation and propaganda is having a disastrous effect on independent news around the world, a new report finds.
