Status: Free
Legal Environment: 3 (of 30)
Political Environment: 8 (of 40)
Economic Environment: 6 (of 30)
Total Score: 17 (of 100)
(Lower scores = freer)

Freedom of the press is constitutionally guaranteed, and media are generally able to operate without restrictions; however, Barbados does not have freedom of information legislation. Representatives of the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) occasionally criticized the media for spreading what they said was ill-informed criticism of the government. In February, Prime Minister and BLP leader Owen Arthur publicly criticized Harold Hoyte, president of the Nation Publishing Company Ltd. and editor in chief of The Nation. Arthur said that The Nation newspaper – one of the country's two dailies – ran articles that were driven by Hoyte's "political agenda." Of the 11 radio frequencies, 3 are run by the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, which also operates a television station. In August, the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation launched CaribVision, a new 24-hour Caribbean television channel. CaribVision is beamed to over 10 Caribbean countries and to North America. There are no government restrictions on use of the internet, which was accessed by nearly 60 percent of the population in 2006.

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