The annual study done by Reporters without boarders in relation to the state of the Freedom of the Press in the world in 2016 shows Costa Rica in the sixth position worldwide and the first in America.

The ranking of 180 countries, shows Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and New Zealand in the top 5, followed by Costa Rica, Switzerland, Sweden, Irland and Jamaica in the next 5 slots.

The last ten positions in the ranking which indicate a very bad situation of freedom of press includes: Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Syria, China, Vietnam, Sudan, Laos, Djibouti and Cuba.

This is the best position Costa Rica has held, it climbed ten slots as it was ranked number 16 in 2015. It is currently the best ranked in the continent, followed by Jamaica in the 10th slot, Canada in the 18th position, Uruguay ranked 20th and Chile, 31. The United States is placed 41 in the list. While the worse positioned countries in America when it comes to press freedom are: Venezuela (139), Colombia (134), Mexico (149), Guatemala (121) and Honduras (137).

Pluralism, media independence, environment for journalists to execute their work, legal frame, transparency and quality of infrastructure to produce information, are the aspects taken into consideration by Reporters without borders to create the world classification. Aggression and attacks suffered by journalists and reporters also weighed in.

According to Reporters without boarders, the situation of freedom of the press deteriorated in 2015 in the American continent, this is explained by the growing political tensions in different countries, fed by the economic recession, the uncertainty about the future, among other factors.

The main obstacles for the freedom of the press are constituted by the institutional violence, the organized crime, impunity, corruption, concentration of mass media, control of the media by government authorities and internet vigilance or monitoring (especially in the U.S.A.).