Status: Free
Legal Environment: 3
Political Influences: 1
Economic Pressures: 5
Total Score: 9
Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 78
Religious Groups: Roman Catholic (75 percent), Protestant or other (25 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Fleming (58 percent), Walloon (31 percent), other (11 percent)
Capital: Brussels
Belgian media enjoy strong constitutional protections for a free press. Restrictions on libel, pornography, and the promotion of racial or religious discrimination have only a minor effect on press freedom. In 2002, a court fined two journalists from the newspaper De Morgen for refusing to disclose confidential sources relating to a story on state railway cost overruns. Dual oversight boards seek to maintain balanced reporting on government-controlled radio and television networks. A handful of media corporations control the majority of newspapers.
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