FOTP 2013 Full Report

protection for media personnel. Villatoro was found shot to death on a Tegucigalpa sidewalk aweek after he was kidnapped. The country’s human rights commissioner made a number ofarrests, including that of a police officer, in connection with the murder, and investigations intothe crime were ongoing at year’s end. In July, Adonis Felipe Bueso Gutiérrez, a reporter withRadio Stereo Naranja, was kidnapped and murdered along with two of his cousins in Villanueva,Cortés Department. In August, journalist José Noel Canales of Hondudiario was shot to death onhis way to work. Many attacks occur in retaliation for journalists’ coverage of organized crime,drug trafficking, corruption, or other sensitive issues.Honduras has at least nine daily newspapers, six private television stations, and five radiostations that broadcast nationally, as well as a large number of community radio stations. Most ofthe major outlets are owned by a small group of business magnates who have political andcommercial interests and exercise considerable control over content. Corruption amongjournalists and government manipulation of state advertising purchases remain common.According to a 2008 report by the Open Society Institute, journalists often entered into contractswith government officials and received payments in return for favorable reporting.About 18 percent of the population had access to the internet in 2012, but poorinfrastructure in rural areas limits penetration.Hong KongStatus: Partly FreeLegal Environment: 11Political Environment: 15Economic Environment: 9Total Score: 35Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 30,F 33,PF 33,PF 32,PF 33,PFFreedom of expression is protected by law, and Hong Kong media remain lively in their criticismof the territory’s government and to a lesser extent the Chinese central government. However,political and economic pressures have narrowed the space for free expression. According to apoll published in June 2012 by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), 87 percent of thejournalists surveyed believed that press freedom had eroded during the seven-year tenure ofChief Executive Donald Tsang, who stepped down in July. Over the course of the year, growinggovernment restrictions on access to information, violent attacks on the offices of two mediaentities, and heightened intrusiveness by Beijing’s Liaison Office further threatened pressfreedom in the territory.Under Article 27 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents enjoy freedoms of speech,press, and publication, and these rights are generally upheld by the territory’s independent courts.However, they risk being undermined by the power of the National People’s Congress (NPC),China’s rubber-stamp parliament, to make final interpretations of the Basic Law; Chinesesurveillance in the territory; and the mainland economic interests of local media owners. HongKong has no freedom of information law. An administrative code is intended to ensure openaccess to government information, but official adherence is inconsistent, prompting local193