Freedom of information saw a drastic decline in 2014, the international organization Reporters without borders states. “Beset by wars, the growing threat from non-state operatives, violence during demonstrations and the economic crisis, media freedom is in retreat on all five continents,” the 2015 World Press Freedom Index reads.

For the 5th year in a row Finland tops the World Press Freedom Index. Finland is followed by Norway and Denmark, with Netherlands on fourth place and Sweden on fifth.

Two-thirds of the 180 countries surveyed for the 2015 World Press Freedom Index performed less well than in the previous year. The index ranks the performance the countries according to a range of criteria that include media pluralism and independence, respect for the safety and freedom of journalists, and the legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operate.

Russia, the fourth country in the Barents cooperation besides Finland, Norway and Sweden, was ranked number 152, four places down from 2014. Pressure on independent media continued to intensify in Russia with another string of draconian laws, website blocking and independent news outlets either brought under control or throttled out of existence, the report reads.

Journalists from the northern parts of Norway, Finland and Sweden, as well as northwestern parts of Russia are cooperating through the independent network Barents Press.