Status: Free
Legal Environment: 2
Political Influences: 7
Economic Pressures: 10
Total Score: 19
Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 71
Religious Groups: n/a
Ethnic Groups: Latvian (57 percent), Russian (30 percent) Belarusian (4 percent), Polish (3 percent), other (3 percent)
Capital: Riga
The mass news media are generally free of state control. The private television channel has twice the audience of the state-run system. Many privately owned radio stations broadcast in Latvian and Russian. However, broadcasters are required by law to limit the use of languages other than Latvian to 25 per cent of their total daily broadcasting time. Most newspapers are privately owned. The state publishes a weekly and a less frequent publication. All major cities have private newspapers. Political and economic interests sometimes affect content. There is a wide range of political coverage.
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