FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 2007 needs updating FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 2007 A Global Survey of Media Independence EDITED BY KARIN DEUTSCH KARLEKAR AND ELEANOR MARCHANT FREEDOM HOUSE NEW YORK WASHINGTON, D.C. ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. LANHAM BOULDER NEW YORK TORONTO PLYMOUTH, UK ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2007 by Freedom House All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISSN 1551-9163 ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5435-1 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7425-5435-X (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5436-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7425-5436-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Table of Contents Acknowledgments, vii The Survey Team, ix Survey Methodology, xix Press Freedom in 2006, 1 Karin Deutsch Karlekar Global and Regional Tables, 17 Muzzling the Media: The Return of Censorship in the Common- wealth of Independent States, 27 Christopher Walker Country Reports and Ratings, 45 Freedom House Board of Trustees, 334 About Freedom House, 335 Acknowledgments Freedom of the Press 2007 could not have been completed without the contributions of numerous Freedom House staff and consultants. The following section, entitled “The Survey Team,” contains a detailed list of writers and advisers without whose efforts and input this project would not have been possible. Karin Deutsch Karlekar, a senior researcher at Freedom House, served as managing editor of this year’s survey. Extensive research, editorial, proofreading, and administrative assistance was provided by Eleanor Marchant, assistant editor of Freedom of the Press, as well as by Astrid Larson, Thomas Webb, Tyler Roylance, Camille Eiss, Elizabeth Floyd, Jacob Stokes, and Shaina Greiff. Anne Green, of Greenways Graphic Design, and Lori Greenberg Tolchin were responsible for the design and typesetting of the book, while Sona Vogel served as the principal copy editor. Overall guidance for the project was provided by Arch Puddington, director of research, and by Christopher Walker, director of studies. We are grateful for the insights provided by those who served on this year’s review team, including Freedom House staff members Arch Puddington, Christopher Walker, Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Eleanor Marchant, Mariam Memarsadeghi, and Celine Senseney, as well as Freedom House visiting fellow Sihem Figuigui and Dan McCarey and Ting Wang of the International Center for Journalists. In addition, the ratings and narratives were reviewed by a number of Freedom House staff based in our overseas offices. This report also reflects the findings of the Freedom House study Freedom in the World 2007: The Annual Survey of Political vii viii ❚ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rights and Civil Liberties. Statistics on internet usage were taken from www.internetworldstats.com. We would also like to acknowledge comments and input on various reports from the following members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network: Owais Aslam Ali of the Pakistan Press Foundation, Carlos Cortes Castillo of the Fundacion para la Libertad de Prensa (Colombia), Corina Cepoi and Olivia Pirtac of the Independent Journalism Center (Moldova), Gamal Eid of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo.net), Ronald Koven of the World Press Freedom Committee, H.Naranjargal and Dash Munkhburen of Globe International (Mongolia), Edetaen Ojo of Media Rights Agenda (Nigeria), Julie Payne of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Ping Ling of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and Hans Verploeg of the Netherlands Association of Journalists. Comments were also received from Saad Mohseni, of the Moby Media Group (Afghanistan) and Omar Faruk Osman of the National Union of Somali Journalists. Freedom House would like to thank the Annenberg Foundation for their generous grant in support of this year’s survey. Additional support for our freedom of expression work was provided by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the F. M. Kirby Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the Freedom Forum, and Bette Bao Lord. The Survey Team Contributing Authors Fadeel Al-Ameen is a journalist and author who writes extensively about the status of the contemporary Arab media and has conducted several media-training workshops and seminars for Arab journalists. He worked as editor in chief of Hi magazine for three years and is currently a consultant for several media organizations in the D.C. area and the Middle East. He holds an MA in journalism and mass communications from the University of Northern Colorado and completed his graduate degree in international media from Indiana University at Bloomington. He served as a Middle East analyst for Freedom of the Press. Alexis Arieff is a graduate student in international relations at Yale University and a former senior research associate for the Africa program at the Committee to Protect Journalists. She served as an Africa analyst for Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press. Charles Arthur is an analyst and journalist specializing in Caribbean politics and economics. He holds an MA in Latin American government and politics from the University of Essex, United Kingdom. He is a contributing writer for the Economist Intelligence Unit, Latinamerica Press, and the IPI World Press Freedom Review and is the author of two books about Haiti. He served as the Caribbean analyst for Freedom of the Press. ix x ❚ THE SURVEY TEAM Luis Botello is the director of Latin American programs at the International Center for Journalists. A native Panamanian, he has worked throughout the Americas, conducting training programs and conferences on freedom of expression and the press as well as journalism ethics. He previously served as morning newscast producer, host, and television reporter for Televisora Nacional in Panama, where he covered assignments in Colombia, the United States, and Europe. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in mass communications from Louisiana State University and has also held several teaching positions. He served as the Central America analyst for Freedom of the Press. Jake Dizard is a research analyst at Freedom House and assistant editor of the annual Freedom House publication Countries at the Crossroads. His area of focus is Latin America, with a specific emphasis on the Andean region. He is a 2005 graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press. Camille Eiss is a research analyst at Freedom House and assistant editor of Freedom in the World. Her research focuses on political and human rights developments in Southeast Asia. She previously worked as associate managing editor of the Washington Quarterly at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She holds an MSc in the history of international relations from the London School of Economics, with a focus on political Islam. She served as a Southeast Asia and Middle East analyst for Freedom of the Press. Thomas Gold is a former assistant professor of comparative politics at Sacred Heart University and the author of The Lega Nord and Contemporary Politics in Italy. He earned his PhD from the New School for Social Research and received a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Italy. He served as a Western Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press. David Hawk is a human rights advocate specializing in East Asia. He is author of Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps and Thank You Father Kim Il Sung: Violations of Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in North Korea and, most recently, a Freedom House special report, “Concentrations of Inhumanity: An Analysis of North Korea’s Labor Camps.” He formerly directed the Cambodia Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.S. section of Amnesty International. He served as an Asia analyst for Freedom of the Press. THE SURVEY TEAM ❚ xi Diana Howansky is a staff associate at the Ukrainian Studies Program of Columbia University. She holds an MA in international affairs, with a specialization in Russian-area and Eastern European studies, from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, as well as an MS in journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has worked in the field of democratic development in various countries in the former Soviet Union. She served as a Former Soviet Union analyst for Freedom of the Press. Sallie Hughes is an assistant professor in the Journalism Program and Spanish-Language Journalism Masters Program at the School of Communication, University of Miami. Her PhD from Tulane University is in Latin American studies, with an emphasis on the media and politics of the region. Her book on the transformation of journalism in Mexico, Newsrooms in Conflict: Journalism and the Democratization of Mexico, was published in 2006 by the University of Pittsburgh Press. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press. Ana Jelenkovic is an associate at Eurasia Group, focusing on the Caucasus, Southeast Europe, and the broader Black Sea region. She holds an MA in international relations from Columbia University. She has worked on Balkan human rights and media issues at the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Harriman Institute, the Open Society Institute, and Freedom House’s New York and Belgrade offices. She served as a Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Caucasus analyst for Freedom of the Press.