Quoted Text

Report: Mexico, Egypt no longer have a free press
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid, Ap Diplomatic Writer – Mon May 2, 3:44 am ET

WASHINGTON – Mexico can no longer be considered to have a free press because of the threats and violence associated with drug trafficking, but an eight-year decline in press freedom around the world appears to have begun leveling off in 2010, an independent advocacy group reported.

In its annual accounting of press freedoms, Freedom House said the Middle East and North Africa showed a dramatic deterioration in those freedoms in 2010. The assessment of 196 countries and territories will be released Monday.

Among the results: Egypt was downgraded to "not free," while Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia continued to rank among the worst countries in the world for media independence and press freedom. Only Saudi Arabia, among those five countries, was not swept early this year by uprisings and appeals for freedom.

"In 2010, we saw how readily governments in the Middle East turned to repression of the media," said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, managing editor of the Freedom House study. Gains have to be implemented quickly or "this window of opportunity will be lost," she said.

"The openings that have taken place early in 2011 give us hope that gains in the Middle East may lead the way to improvements in the global level of press freedom," she said in an interview. But recent moves by the army in Egypt to restrict news coverage are worrying, she said....................................>>>>......................................>>>>...........................http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_on_re_us/us_press_freedom_report

........ahhhhhhhhh......these are just the preview........coming to a county near you!