FOTP 2013 Full Report

and adjudicates complaints from the public, and the maximum sanction is a reprimand that mustbe published or broadcast immediately. Participation in the CMM is voluntary, but all majormedia outlets have signed on. State assistance accounts for up to 30 percent of the CMM’s totalfunding; annual fees make up the remainder.Physical harassment of or threats against journalists are extremely rare.While print circulation numbers are down due to the transition to digital media, Finlandstill boasts a large newspaper readership, and subscriptions remain the norm. Media ownership isconcentrated, with Alma Media and Sanoma controlling most newspaper distribution. Publicbroadcaster Yleisradio OY (YLE) and commercial channel MTV3 dominate televisionbroadcasting. The radio sector includes four public-service channels and the commercial channelRadio Nova, as well as a large number of regional and local stations. Public radio offersbroadcasts in the minority languages Swedish and Sami (Lapp).The internet is open and unrestricted, and around 91 percent of citizens had regularaccess in 2012. Critics have raised concerns regarding the precision of Finland’s system forfiltering child pornography, which has been found to block many legal sites. In 2010 it became alegal right for every Finn to have a 1 Mbps broadband internet connection.FranceStatus: FreeLegal Environment: 5Political Environment: 10Economic Environment: 7Total Score: 22Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 22,F 22,F 23,F 23,F 24,FThe constitution and governing institutions in France support an open press environment,although certain laws limit aspects of press freedom in practice. Freedom of informationlegislation is in place, but there are exceptions to protect the reputation or rights of a third party,and requests for information are often denied.A law that took effect in January 2010 strengthened protection of sources in France,holding that journalists can only be compelled to reveal sources when the information is requiredfor the investigation of a serious crime. In March 2012, the Paris Court of Appeals, citing aprocedural technicality, rejected a case in which former prosecutor Philippe Courroye wasaccused of illegally obtaining the telephone documents of journalists at Le Monde in 2010. Theprosecutor was investigating the so-called Bettencourt affair, in which then president NicolasSarkozy and labor minister Éric Woerth were accused of receiving illegal funding from L’Oréalcosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt. In February, the same court had rejected a suit against thejournalist Romain Bolzinger, in which the Paris police accountability organization tried to forcehim to reveal the identity of officers who had sold confidential information to journalists.Bolzinger aired a story on Canal+ television in 2010 that showed journalists obtaininginformation by bribing policemen. In March 2012, he filed a complaint on the grounds that hisphone records had been obtained illegally in an attempt to discover the identity of the corrupt168