Freedom of the Press - Grenada (2003)

Status: Free
Legal Environment: 5
Political Influences: 3
Economic Pressures: 6
Total Score: 14

Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 71
Religious Groups: Roman Catholic (53 percent), Anglican (13.8 percent), Protestant and other (33.2 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Black (82 percent), white and South Asian (18 percent)
Capital: St. George's

Grenada continues to enjoy a free press, which is guaranteed by the constitution. A privately owned corporation, with a minority government share, owns the principal radio and television stations; additional outlets are privately owned. Both print and broadcast media outlets operate freely without state intervention and present a wide variety of views including those of the opposition. Reporters, however, operate cautiously under slander and libel laws, which the state commonly uses to prosecute journalists. In one case, the editor of the weekly newspaper Grenada Today is facing charges of defamatory libel for an article that was critical of the government. After two years on the run in Canada, a prominent journalist, accused of sedition on the basis of statements made during a radio show in 1998, surrendered to authorities.