The mass media in Cyprus refers to mass media outlets based on the island of Cyprus, including both the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues.
In the 2015 Freedom of the Press report of Freedom House, the Republic of Cyprus was ranked "free" and scored 25/100 in press freedom, 5/30 in Legal Environment, 11/40 in Political Environment, and 9/30 in Economic Environment (the lower scores the better). Reporters Without Borders rank the Republic of Cyprus 24th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 15.62
History
In the 1960–75 Cyprus, the media (owned by the government) were deemed not free. The power-sharing agreement among Turkish and Greek communities collapsed in 1963 after Makarios' attempt at pushing through Constitutional amendments. The Turkish community withdrew from the power-sharing agreements, and media remained under control of the Greek-dominated government.
The 1974 failed Greek coup triggered the Turkish military intervention and resulted in the division of the island. The partition removed the Turkish population from the Greek Cypriots' political sphere, and media controls were slowly relaxed. The editorial independence of the state-owned media (on the BBC model) was slowly reinforced in the 1976–77 period, when media in the Republic of Cyprus were deemed "partly free". Few small but free independent media outlets also emerged.
By 1977, governmental controls on the media in the Republic of Cyprus had been removed and the media started to be deemed "free". The 1989 Press Law allowed privatisation and reinforced journalists' protections.
Legislative framework
Republic of Cyprus
The Constitution of Cyprus guarantees freedom of speech and of expression (art. 19): «Every person has the right to freedom of speech and expression in any form. This right includes freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas without interference by any public authority and regardless of frontiers.»
These are generally respected in practice by the government. The press of the Republic of Cyprus is seen as "vibrant" and does not shy from criticising authorities.
The 1989 RoC Press Law supports press freedom by guaranteeing the circulation of newspapers, journalists' right not to reveal sources, and public access to information. Libel and defamation are decriminalised and remain as civil offenses.
Cypriot and foreign journalists have the right to free access to state sources of information, freedom to seek and acquire information from any competent authority of the Republic and the freedom to make this public. Information can only be withhold for state or public security, constitutional or public order, public morals or the protection of the honour and rights of third parties.
Cyprus does not have a specific freedom of information (FOI) law (the only EU member state, with Spain, in such a condition), although a draft law was being prepared in late 2013.
Cypriot and foreign journalists have the right to protect their sources and not to give testimony without liability, unless when the published information concerns a criminal offence. In that case the journalist may be requirest to reveal her/his source, given that the information is clearly related to the criminal offence, it cannot be obtained otherwise, and there exist a superior and imperative public interest that require that the information be revealed.
A right to reply exists for persons, organisations or public institutions that are named or indirectly referred to in a report or article, if they consider it as untrue or misleading. Their reply must be published, free of charge, within three days of its receipt, giving it the same prominence as the initial report.
The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech and of the press. The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.
In 2015 a bill criminalizing denial of war crimes recognised by the Parliament (punished with prison terms of up to five years and a €10,000 fine) raised concerns (e.g. by the OSCE RFoM) about compliance with international freedom of expression standards.