Status: Free
Legal Environment: 1
Political Influences: 1
Economic Pressures: 6
Total Score: 8

Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 78
Religious Groups: Anglican (24 percent), Presbyterian (18 percent), Roman Catholic (15 percent), other or none (43 percent)
Ethnic Groups: New Zealand European (74.5 percent), Maori (10 percent), other European (4.5 percent), Pacific Islander (4 percent), Asian and other (7 percent)
Capital: Wellington

Press freedom is provided for by law and is respected, although access to information is not guaranteed. In December 2001, the government backed down from a plan to include a criminal defamation clause in the Electoral Amendment Bill. Independent broadcasters compete with state-owned radio and television, and New Zealand's private newspapers and magazines cover politics tenaciously, offering a range of views. Media organizations criticized the April 2002 decision of the high court to ban the National Business Review from reporting on a high-profile case involving a biotech firm.

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