Freedom of the Press 2013: Middle East Volatility amid Global Decline

In this annual index, Freedom House ranks 197 countries and territories based on the situation of press freedom. In 2012 the dominant trends were setbacks to media freedoms in both authoritarian and democratic settings. At the global level, the percentage of people worldwide who enjoy a free media environment fell to its lowest point in more than a decade. Despite optimistic gains for press freedom in the Middle East in 2011, the region experienced a net decline for 2012. Freedom House attributed the uneven press freedom conditions to ongoing political turmoil, citing Egypt as an example.  Iran remained one of the worst countries for press freedom, tied with Cuba at 191th in the world.