PRESS FREEDOM IN ARMENIA DECREASED

AZG Armenian Daily
23/10/2008

Statistics

Press freedom in Armenia has decreased markedly over the past year,
an international media rights group said on Wednesday, pointing to a
temporary ban on independent news reporting imposed by the Armenian
Government in March, Azatutyun reported. The Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) put Armenia in 102nd place in its latest World
Press Freedom Index covering 173 nations. Armenia ranked 77th in the
previous RSF survey released a year ago.

RSF found an even shaper deterioration of the situation with media
freedom in neighboring Georgia which the United States and the
European Union regard as the most democratic and liberal of the
three South Caucasus states. Georgia, which went through a state of
emergency in November 2007 and a brief war with Russia last August,
slipped 54 places to 120th in the survey. Azerbaijan fared even worse,
falling from 139th to 150th spot in the rankings.