For the third consecutive year, the Inter American Press Association presents the Chapultepec Index, a measuring instrument having as its starting point the concerns about institutional actions related to the rights to communication, access to information, the guarantees for the practice of journalism, the respect for the lives of journalists, and the actions by the media, among other principles emanating from the Declaration of Chapultepec, of 1994; and the Declaration of Salta, of 2018.

With the participation of more than 150 experts from the Americas - among media directors, journalists, lawyers, academics and social leaders - the Index displays the elements that influence freedom of the press in 22 countries in the hemisphere in accordance to four realms: "Citizens Free to Express Themselves”, “The Exercise of Journalism”, “Violence and Impunity”, and “Control over the Media".

It also measures the unfavorable influence that the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches can exert on freedom of expression and the press.

GLOBAL INDEX

For this third edition, the survey covers the period between August 2, 2021 and August 1, 2022. A total of 140 experts were consulted for the survey and the reports on the countries. Since the beginning of the application of this measuring instrument, the Inter American Press Association has entrusted the tool to a multidisciplinary team from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela.

IAPA is grateful for the generous contribution of the Bolivar Foundation, a Colombian company, and Edward and Karen Seaton of the United States, for the creation of this instrument.