The questionnaire was sent to people with a real knowledge of the press freedom situation in one or more countries, such as local journalists or foreign correspondents living in the country, researchers, legal experts, specialists on a region and the researchers of the Reporters Without Borders International Secretariat.

The countries included in the index are those about which Reporters Without Borders received completed questionnaires from several independent sources. Other countries have not been included for lack of reliable information. Countries that got equal scores have been ranked in alphabetical order.

This index of press freedom is a portrait of the situation based on events between September 2001 and October 2002 . It does not take account of all human rights violations, only those that affect press freedom.

Neither is it an indicator of the quality of a country's media. Reporters Without Borders defends press freedom without regard to the content of the media, so any ethical or professional departures from the norm have not been taken into account.

For additional information on the struggle for Press Freedom, please visit Reporters Without Borders in our Links section or: http://www.rsf.org