Press No Longer Free in Mexico, Egypt: Report

But years-long global decline in press freedom seems to be leveling off
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2011 11:48 AM CDT
Press No Longer Free in Mexico, Egypt: Report
A newspaper stand offers El Debate de lo Calenturos newspaper with pictures of corpses on the back cover in the streets of Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero state, Mexico on December 7, 2009.   (Getty Images)

The bad news: In 2010, a free press became a thing of the past in Mexico and Egypt. The good news is that an eight-year decline in press freedom around the globe apparently started leveling off last year, according to an annual report by advocacy group Freedom House. Mexico and Egypt were both downgraded to "not free," the AP reports. Mexico's decline was seen as a surprise, and was attributed to the attacks on journalists and self-censorship that have occurred as a result of the drug war.

Globally, the report shows, only one in six people live in a country with a free press. Besides Egypt and Mexico, significant declines occurred in Honduras, Hungary, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine. The 10 worst-rated countries are Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. (More media stories.)

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