The V-Dem Project

We presented the V-Dem dataset in chapter 3. The dataset can be accessed here. We will present the media-related variables in the dataset below. While reading, please keep in mind the questions below and answer them once you reached the end. In the final panel, we will provide a link to a platform with an interactive version of the dataset and additional tasks.

Table 1: General Tasks for the Dataset

Tasks
In which countries does the media criticise the government more frequently?
Is there a strong relationship between media freedom and academic freedom?

Dataset Description

Overall Information

Table 2 shows a part of the V Dem dataset with some of the countries in the year 2023. The first variable “v2x_freexp_altinf” is the “Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information index”, a mid-level variable in the V-Dem system that is also part of the electoral democracy index presented in chapter 3. Higher values denote a government’s respect for the “press and media freedom, the freedom of ordinary people to discuss political matters at home and in the public sphere, as well as the freedom of academic and cultural expression”. The other variables are parts of this index: “v2mecenefm” refers to freedom from media censorship (higher values denote less censorship), “v2meharjrn” measures the harassment of journalists, “v2mebias” is a measure of media bias, and “v2meslfcen” measures self-censorship by the media.

Table 2: Media Variables in the V-Dem dataset

country_name	v2x_freexp_altinf	v2mecenefm	v2meharjrn	v2mebias	v2meslfcen
Switzerland	0.974	3.142	3.721	2.709	3.097
Poland	0.642	0.156	0.786	0.149	0.432
Germany	0.946	2.887	2.268	1.718	1.451
United Kingdom	0.939	1.530	3.012	1.928	1.836
Denmark	0.985	3.279	3.754	3.036	3.112
Malta	0.832	1.381	0.542	1.877	0.751
Slovakia	0.937	1.367	1.280	1.786	2.320
Hungary	0.496	0.067	0.379	-0.275	-0.450

There are a host of additional media-related variables in the dataset. One of them is displayed in Figure 1 below: The frequency in which the media is critical of the government. The question is “Of the major print and broadcast outlets, how many routinely critizise the government?” and the scale ranges from 0 (“None”) to 3 (“All major media outlets criticise the government at least occasionally”). The country values can go beyond these bounds because of the Bayesian item response theory measurement model used in converting individual ratings of expert into a scale (for more details see the methodological report of V-Dem).

Another component of the Freedom of expression index above is academic and cultural freedom. Here, the question was “Is there academic freedom and freedom of cultural expression related to political issues?” and the scale ranges from “0: Not respected by public authorities. Censorship and intimidation are frequent. Academic activities and cultural expressions are severely restricted or controlled by the government.” to “4: Fully respected by public authorities. There are no restrictions on academic freedom or cultural expression.”