Both the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) must cease their unseemly attempt at political point-scoring over Jamaica’s fall in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index.

The May 3, 2025 World Press Freedom Day report by RSF, ranking Jamaica at 26th out of 180 countries, has triggered an exchange of news releases by the two major parties, both blaming each other for the decline of two places from last year.

This is clearly a case where the Biblical injunction — “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” — applies. With the election campaign well underway, no one is surprised that the JLP and the PNP are anxious to claim that their hands are clean, as if they believe that Jamaicans have suddenly been struck by collective amnesia.

The PNP, which used to be the party of press freedom back in the day, has in the past two years provided some of the worst infringements on press freedom. Yet it was the first to fire off about the drop in the press freedom index, with a release from the highly articulate Ms Nickiesha Burchell.

Reading Ms Burchell’s missive, one could believe that the PNP is as pure as the driven snow.

“This Administration has consistently shown contempt for independent journalism. Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Minister Dana Morris Dixon have used their public platforms to delegitimise respected media houses, directing Jamaicans away from independent journalism and toward party-controlled channels. This is not preference, it’s a calculated effort to silence dissent and avoid scrutiny,” Ms Burchell said.

Fresh in the mind are the verbal attacks on journalists, including a female who was threatened with rape, and others who were confronted about wearing green, at the PNP headquarters in St Andrew; the continued painting of Nationwide Radio and its founder, veteran journalist Mr Cliff Hughes, as pro-Government.

As for the JLP, its release through Young Jamaica, the youth arm, very conveniently ignored the many disrespectful statements against journalists by Member of Parliament Mr Everald Warmington.

We suspect, too, that the RSF ranking was influenced by the use of social media to broadcast the names and faces of six senior Gleaner journalists and accuse them being used by the PNP to attack the Government.

Neither should we forget the failure of the Government to update the Access to Information (ATI) Act.

The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), in response to the RFS index, said that for years, it and civil society have been calling for a revised law that reflects the current digital age, limits bureaucratic delay, and removes excessive exemptions.

“Yet, despite repeated promises, the review remains stalled,” the professional body has complained.

If, indeed, the two parties really take the notion of a free press seriously, they should work together to uphold press freedom and protect journalists from attacks by their members.

The PAJ has made the point that while Jamaica remains among the top-ranked countries globally, and second in the Caribbean, it is important to recall that the country once held a top 10 position, reaching an all-time high of sixth place in 2020.

“That decline over the last five years underscores the urgent need for meaningful interventions to preserve the gains made and strengthen our commitment to press freedom,” the PAJ declared.

As Ms Burchell herself said: “Journalistic independence and integrity must remain non-negotiable.”