Actually he is probably right - the press situation in Egypt is dismal. They are allowed to report silly stuff that distracts people, and rail on and on about Israel, but they self-censor to an incredible extent about what is going on inside the country.

Oh the writer (and others with similar angles) was most definately correct in this particular case, the press has advanced quite a lot in Morocco. However, what amused me was the rather typical dig at the Egyptians (a frequent item in comparative commentary is a "at least we're better than the Egyptians." - true or not).

You're not the only one who has issues with the survey. They didn't say much about how it was compiled this year, but I remember going through a previous version and being appalled at how easily individual incidents could make a country's ranking drop, thereby meaning they no longer reflected reality. Also, it seemed to make no distinction between terrorists taking out a single journalist and governments systematically imposing limits on the press and killing one person in the process.

That report lists India as being less free than the UAE. Having seen the press in each country, I find that a rather ridiculous statement to make. Just because the UAE doesn't routinely arrest journalists doesn't mean the press is free. And just because Kashmir is a mess doesn't mean you can't say whatever you want about almost anything while writing for the national broadsheets in Mumbai or Delhi.

Are you talking about the 2006 report? Cuz it ain't on their site yet.