Armenia has improved its media freedom ranking and is currently placed 74th in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index released by the Reporters Without Borders.
Other countries in the region are placed as follows: Russia – 148th, Georgia – 64th, Turkey – 151st, Azerbaijan – 163rd, Iran – 196th.
The 2016 World Press Freedom Index reflects the intensity of the attacks on journalistic freedom and independence by governments, ideologies and private-sector interests during the past year.
Seen as a benchmark throughout the world, the Index ranks 180 countries according to the freedom allowed journalists.
Three north European countries head the rankings. They are Finland (ranked 1st, the position it has held since 2010), Netherlands (2nd, up 2 places) and Norway (3rd, down 1).
At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, in last place, were the worst performers.
The Index is based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists in 180 countries.
The Index is not an indicator of the quality of the journalism in each country, nor does it rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking.