Freedom House: Despite Progress, Media Remains 'Partly Free' in Georgia

Georgia's ranking in an annual survey of global press freedom by Freedom House has improved for the fourth consecutive year, but the country still remains in the category of “partly free.”

Freedom of the Press 2013,  which covers developments of last year and assesses press freedom in 197 countries, ranks Georgia 96th, sharing position with Albania; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Comoros; Haiti; Indonesia; Kosovo; Lesotho and Sierra Leone.

In the new survey Georgia has the rating of 49.

Georgia's ranking in previous similar survey, covering 2011, was 111th with rating of 52.

Each of the 197 countries and territories examined in the survey are assigned a rating between 0 and 100 with countries scoring from 0 to 30 are given status of having “free” media; from 31 to 60 – “partly free” and 61 to 100 – “not free”.

“The most significant numerical improvements in the region [Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia] occurred in the Caucasus. Georgia, whose score moved from 52 to 49, benefited from increased political diversity in the television market, including through the return of Imedi TV to its previous private owners” after the October 1, 2012 parliamentary elections, the report says.

Civil Georgia