CYPRUS has been ranked a respectable 25th in the 2005 report on press freedom worldwide, jumping 58 places since the 2003 report, compiled annually by the international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RWB).
Cyprus does not appear on the 2004 list.
On the list of 167 countries for 2005, Cyprus is placed in the same position as Namibia and Benin but also ranks ahead of France in 30th place, Australia in 31st place, Spain in 40th place, Italy in 42nd place and the US in 44th.
The Turkish-controlled north of the island came in at 53rd place, some 30 places up from the previous report, while Turkey ranked 98th, also deemed an improvement, and Greece clocked in 18th along with Germany and Belgium.
The US was the biggest surprise in this year’s report, dropping from 22nd place last year. It now falls behind El Salvador, Cape Verde, South Africa, Jamaica, South Korea, Hong Kong, Costa Rica and Macedonia.
According to the report, North Korea again came bottom of the list. It was closely followed by Eritrea and Turkmenistan, which were described by RWB as “black holes” for news, where a privately owned media is not allowed and freedom of expression does not exist.
Commenting on the slippage of some of the Western democracies, RWB said the US drop was mainly attributed to the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and legal moves undermining the privacy of journalistic sources.
Canada, at 21st place also fell several places due to decisions that weakened the privacy of sources and sometimes turned journalists into “court auxiliaries”.
France also slipped, largely because of searches of media offices, interrogations of journalists and introduction of new press offences.
Top of the list jointly at number one were Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, “where robust press freedom is firmly established”, the report said.
The top ten are followed by New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago.
“The highest-ranked countries may all be European, but the press freedom gap is widening between member-states of the European Union,” the report said.
“Poland (53rd), for example, slipped nearly 20 places this year, mainly because a journalist was heavily fined for “offensive remarks” about the Pope, “a taboo subject”.
It said an investigative journalist on the satirical weekly Nie also faces between three months and five years in prison for refusing to reveal his sources.
“His computer hard-drive was put under legal seal at his home on June 23, depriving him of his work equipment for several months,” the report added.
It said Spain received a poor ranking largely because of continued threats to journalists by ETA Basque militants.
In Italy a search of the offices of the daily Corriere della Sera last May, after it printed a report about the use of Italian Beretta pistols in Iraq, showed how strong the temptation still was to violate the secrecy of journalistic sources.
The position of the United Kingdom is due to the situation in Northern Ireland, where journalists continue to be threatened by paramilitary groups.
Not bad for Cyprus
), I would like to learn greek, and in general I like to listen to greek music. I like my greek professors as well. 
