The Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders rates Papua New Guinea highest among the three Pacific island countries on the list.
It ranks PNG in 41st place, Tonga in 66th and Fiji in 107th place.
Top is Finland and bottom is Eritrea.
New Zealand is in place 8, Australia in 26.
Among the big powers, US is ranked 32nd, Russia 148th and China 173rd which is 7th from the bottom.
