Top 10, bottom 10 of Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index

October 20th, 2009 Report: Media freedoms shrink in Iran, rise in USPARIS — Iran's crackdown on journalists amid postelection protests and Israel's squeeze on media during its Gaza offensive drew black marks Tuesday from a watchdog monitoring media freedoms worldwide. Both countries fell on Reporters Without Borders' annual ranking of media freedom.

October 3rd, 2009 Rally held in Rome to defend press freedomROME — Tens of thousands of people, including journalists and media rights activists, gathered in a Rome square Saturday to defend press freedom, accusing Premier Silvio Berlusconi of trying to silence critical voices. Berlusconi, a media magnate, has dismissed the accusations as a "joke" and the demonstration as a "farce." He said this week that there is more press freedom in Italy than in any other Western country.

September 18th, 2009 Freedom seeks broker for sale of some newspapersMESA, Ariz. — Freedom Communications is asking a bankruptcy judge for permission to hire a broker to pursue the sale of Phoenix, Ariz.-area publications, including the East Valley Tribune.

September 1st, 2009 Freedom Communications files for Chapter 11WILMINGTON, Del. — The owner of the Orange County Register in California and dozens of other newspapers became the latest publisher Tuesday to seek bankruptcy protection, hurt by a jarring drop in advertising revenue.

August 31st, 2009 Sri Lankan journalist given 20 years in prisonCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan reporter singled out by President Barack Obama as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison on charges of violating the country's strict anti-terror law. J.S. Tissainayagam's articles in the now-defunct Northeastern Monthly magazine in 2006 and 2007 criticized the conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accused authorities of withholding food and other essential items from Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war.

August 28th, 2009 Dutch royals win privacy case against APAMSTERDAM — A court ruled Friday that The Associated Press violated the privacy of the Dutch royal family by photographing them on a skiing holiday in Argentina. The judge handed down an injunction against further distribution or sale of four images of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's family that were made available worldwide last month and widely used by the Dutch media.

August 19th, 2009 TORONTO - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper faced embarrassing moments when his office issued a press release mis-spelling the name of a provincial capital he was visiting. But it was no ordinary mistake.

August 17th, 2009 Leaders demand freedom of expressionMEXICO CITY — Billionaire businessman Carlos Slim joined academics and human rights advocates on Monday in demanding a renewed national commitment to a free press and an end to attacks on journalists. Declaring free speech as a fundamental human right, the group of 21 leaders signed a nine-page Commitment to Freedom of Expression, a detailed proposal for Mexico to provide the public with access to information, transparency in government activities and the right to safely report news.

August 13th, 2009 Kazakhstan court refuses to free jailed editorALMATY, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan's highest court refused Thursday to overturn a prison sentence for a newspaper editor in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation. Ramazan Yesergepov was arrested in January and charged with revealing state secrets in a move that has tarnished the ex-Soviet nation's democratic credentials as it prepares to assume the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — a leading trans-Atlantic security and rights body.

August 6th, 2009 Rights group protests media ban of Sri Lanka pollCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — An international media rights group has expressed outrage at the Sri Lanka's decision to ban journalists from covering the first local elections in the north since the military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels. The government has touted the polls scheduled for Saturday in the cities of Vavuniya and Jaffna as the first sign of democracy taking root in an area ravaged by the 25-year civil war that ended in May.

August 6th, 2009 Dalai Lama to receive Tenn. museum's Freedom AwardMEMPHIS, Tenn.

July 29th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Embarrassed by recent events which forced Taufique Kitchlew, son of freedom fighter Saifudin Kitchlew, to leave Amritsar city for want of adequate accommodation, the Punjab government Wednesday offered government accommodation and a pension to him. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made the offer for free government accommodation to Taufique, the only surviving son of Saifudin Kitchlew, legendary hero of Jallianwala Bagh massacre, if he intended to settle down in Amritsar, a government spokesman said here Wednesday.

July 16th, 2009 Media monitor: 7 photographers detained in IranPARIS — Media monitor Reporters Without Borders says seven photographers and a cameraman have been detained in Iran, most of them over the past week. The Paris-based group listed five Iranian photographers seized Saturday, nearly a month after the June 12 presidential elections that prompted a wave of opposition protests.

July 2nd, 2009 37 senators seek freedom for Vietnamese priestWASHINGTON — Thirty-seven U.S. senators are asking Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet to release a dissident Roman Catholic priest serving prison and house arrest terms totaling 13 years.

May 1st, 2009 Sri Lanka accused of 'brutal' media suppressionCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lankan military's success in its fight against separatist rebels has been accompanied by a "brutal campaign" against dissenting media, an international press group said Friday. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders branded Sri Lanka as the "least respectful of media freedom" among countries with democratically elected governments.