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Freedom of the press (or press freedom) is the guarantee by a government of free public speech often through a state constitution for its citizens, and associations of individuals extended to members of news gathering organizations, and their published reporting.
It also extends to news gathering, and processes involved in obtaining information for the public consumption.
With respect to governmental information a government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information as sensitive, classified or secret and being otherwise protected from disclosure due to relevance of the information to protecting the national interest. Many governments are also subject to sunshine laws or Freedom of Information Acts that are used to define the ambit of national interest.
Every year, Reporters Without Borders establishes a ranking of every country about freedom of the press.
In 2003, the countries where press was the most free were Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway.
In 2004, apart from the above countries, Denmark, Ireland, Slovakia, and Switzerland were tied at the top of the list, followed by New Zealand and Latvia. The countries with the least degree of press freedom were ranked with North Korea having the worst, followed by Cuba, Burma, Turkmenistan, Eritrea, China, Vietnam, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
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