Freedom of the Press 2008 - St. Lucia

Status: Free
Legal Environment: 3 (of 30)
Political Environment: 9 (of 40)
Economic Environment: 4 (of 30)
Total Score: 16 (of 100)
(Lower scores = freer)

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. Following the change of government after the December 2006 victory of the United Workers Party over the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), there were indications of greater interference in the state-owned radio station. In January there was controversy when the state-owned Radio St. Lucia (RSL) withdrew a SLP advertisement calling on party supporters "take back our country!" In October, Roger Joseph resigned as general manager of RSL. He denied his decision was politically-motivated but the St. Lucia Star reported that Joseph resigned because of the immense pressure he was under from the new government. The source said the government had instructed Joseph to send them every release the opposition submitted to the station and that they then decided whether the station would air the information or not. St Lucia has three television stations, and seven radio stations – all of them private apart from RSL. There are three weekly newspapers and two that are published three times a week. There are no government restrictions on the internet, which was accessible to over 32 percent of the population in 2007.