... Better than USA, Australia, France & Japan
... Comparable to Western democracies
Accra (GHP) - In the 2006 Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index(website), Ghana rose 32 places to 34^th to become fourth in Africa behind the continent’s three traditional leaders - Benin (23rd), Namibia (26th) and Mauritius (32nd).

Ghana moved ahead of some Western democracies like the United States (53rd), France(35th) and Japan(51st)

"Economic conditions are still difficult for the Ghanaian media but it is no longer threatened by the authorities" says the report.

According to the report, which rated 168 nations, "In Africa, press freedom is genuine in Benin, Namibia, Mauritius, Ghana, Mali(35th), South Africa (44th) and Cape Verde (45th) and comparable to that in Western democracies. It does not exist or is constantly under attack in Eritrea (166th), Gambia (149th), Somalia (144th), Democratic Republic of Congo (142nd), Zimbabwe (140th) and Equatorial Guinea (137th). The same African countries have featured at the top and bottom of the Index for several years."

The Paris-based media rights group said North Korea, Turkmenistan and Eritrea were the worst violators. Next came Cuba, Burma, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Nepal.

The ten countries rated most repressive were the same as last year except for two. Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia moved into the bottom ten, while Libya and Vietnam moved up.

Four countries shared the top rating: Finland, Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Last year, seven northern European nations were all number one, including Denmark.

The group expressed concern about weakening of press freedom in France, the United States and Japan. The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002.

One of the biggest improvements on the index was Mauritania, up sixty-one places in the past two years. Reporters Without Borders say a government overthrow in August of last year ended heavy restrictions on local media.

This was the fifth year of the Press Freedom Index, which is based on information from free-speech groups, reporters, researchers, judges and human rights activists.

Ghana's ranking from 2002-2006