Reporters without borders (RSF) published World Press Freedom Index for 2018 and Croatia is ranked 69th. That shows a modest progress, since it was ranked 74th in 2017.
However, there is still a lot to deal with when it comes to journalism in Croatia. Reporters without borders published an explanation for every country ranked.
-Journalists investigating corruption, organized crime, or war crimes are often subjected to harassment campaigns. Defamation is criminalized and insulting “the Republic, its emblem, its national hymn or flag” is punishable by up to three years in prison. Worse still, “humiliating” media content has been criminalized since 2013 – Reporters without borders write about Croatia, adding that one more problem is the meddling of the government in the public TV broadcaster HRT – limiting media independence. They explain that HRT is clearly under political pressure and interest groups try to infulence its editorial policies and interfere in its internal management.
-In a joint visit in January 2018, RSF and other international press freedom NGOs found that there has been a slight improvement in the situation. They also paid tribute to the police, who have of late increased the number of arrests in cases of physical violence against journalists. Physical attacks, along with threats and cyber-violence, continue to be a major problem for journalists in Croatia – it's written at the Reporters without borders official page.