# Organization: Reporter ohne Grenzen (RSF Germany)

**Type:** Nonprofit / press freedom advocacy
**Founded:** 1985 (France); Germany chapter 1994
**Base:** Berlin, Germany (German chapter)
**URL:** https://www.reporter-ohne-grenzen.de
**International:** https://rsf.org

**Mission:** Defend and promote freedom of information and freedom of the press as a fundamental human right and precondition of democracy.

**Problems Addressed:**
- **Primary:** PR-00005 (Epistemic Power Concentration) — press freedom is the institutional protection of independent knowledge production. Its erosion is a direct attack on epistemic diversity.
- **Secondary:** PR-00004 (Fascization) — authoritarian regimes invariably attack press freedom first. RSF's Press Freedom Index is a leading indicator of democratic erosion.
- **Secondary:** PR-00002 (Illegitimate Domination) — state control of information is one of the primary mechanisms of illegitimate domination.

**Key Work:**
- **Press Freedom Index** (annual) — ranks 180 countries on 5 criteria: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, safety of journalists. Germany 2024: Rank #10, Score 79.1.
- **Journalist protection** — legal, financial, and logistical support for journalists under threat
- **Policy advocacy** — EU and German federal level; fights against surveillance laws, media concentration, SLAPP suits
- **Digital safety** — training and tools for journalists working in hostile environments

**Why press freedom = democracy indicator:**
Press freedom is not merely a media policy question — it measures whether independent information production is structurally possible. A society in which journalism is economically precarious, legally exposed, or physically dangerous is a society in which the epistemic preconditions for democracy are eroding. The RSF index is therefore a democracy index, not only a journalism index.

**Connection to Values:** VA-00001 (Epistemic Sovereignty), VA-00002 (Authority Requires Justification)
**Connection to Plans:** de-plan1-sven.md — CHALLENGE 6 (press freedom as democratic indicator), STRATEGY 5 (local journalism investment)
**Connection to Data:** DE-Democracy-Metrics — RSF Press Freedom Score is a primary metric