Status: Free
Legal Environment: 6 (of 30)
Political Environment: 8 (of 40)
Economic Environment: 9 (of 30)
Total Score: 23 (of 100)
(Lower scores = freer)
The island nation of Vanuatu continues to have a small, but vibrant press. Freedom of expression is protected under Article 5.1.g of the constitution, and this right is generally respected in practice. In 2007, the government agreed to join Transparency International Vanuatu and Media Association blong Vanuatu (MAV) in drafting Vanuatu's first freedom of information bill. The draft was pending at year's end. Although officials do not actively interfere with media coverage, journalists have been censored or intimidated on occasion. There are private print media, but only one radio and one television station on the island, both state-owned. Radio broadcasts have increased since the installation of new transmitters at the beginning of 2006. The internet run by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation and is not restricted by the government, though it is accessed by only 3.4 percent of the population.
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