Press freedom in 2008

Congrats to Ghana, Mali and Mauritius for having the freest presses in Africa. It's no coincidence they are three of the most stable, democratic countries on the continent. Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia improved their press freedom rating, according to the NGO Freedom House. Though notably South Africa, Botswana and Senegal were among the countries who saw press freedom diminished in 2008. The NGO said Eritrea has the least press freedom in Africa with Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea not far behind.

The four Scandanavian countries plus Iceland and Belgium had the world's freest media environments.