Estonia Climbs to 3rd in Press Freedom Index
Estonia, together with Netherlands, placed third in the 2011 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index published January 25.
The result marks a significant leap for Estonia, which in 2010 landed in ninth place, tying with Ireland.
Norway and Finland, which topped the chart in the previous two years, once again shared the first place in the 2011 ranking.
The contrast between the three Baltic nations sharpened last year. While Estonia stayed at the top of the index, Lithuania fell from 11th to 30th position and Latvia from 30th and 50th. Russia, meanwhile, dropped by two places to end up 142nd.
The bottom three positions in the 179-country ranking were occupied by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.
The annually-comprised index measures the degree of freedom enjoyed journalists, news media and internet in each country, as well as efforts made by authorities to protect that freedom.
Ingrid Teesalu