NZ slips on global press freedom index

Fiji has plummeted further than any other country on an international press freedom index published today.

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said the military coup in Fiji had caused Fiji to fall 73 places to 152 on its 2009 index.

"Soldiers moved into Fijian news rooms for several weeks and censored articles before they were published, while foreign journalists were deported," the France-based media freedom group said.

The index is topped jointly by Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden, while Eritrea is ranked bottom of the 175 countries on the index.

New Zealand has slipped six places to 13th equal with Austria and Latvia, but still has the highest ranking of any Asian-Pacific country - ahead of Australia in 16th and Japan in 17th place.

Reporters Without Borders said war and terrorism wrought havoc and exposed journalists to great danger.

"Afghanistan (149th) is sapped not only by Taleban violence and death threats, but also by unjustified arrests by the security forces. Despite having dynamic news media, Pakistan (159th) is crippled by murders of journalists and the aggressiveness of both the Taleban and sectors of the military. It shared (with Somalia) the world record for journalists killed during the period under review."

Respect for press freedom and lack of targeted violence against journalists enabled New Zealand, Australia and Japan to be regional leaders, the organisation said.

- NZPA