Despite the progress Croatia has made, the independence of media is being threatened by the occasional interference of the government in their activities, according to the latest report by the Washington-based organisation.
Croatia was classified among partly free countries, immediately after Italy, Mongolia and the Philippines and before Senegal. Its position has slightly improved since 2004 when it ranked 84th.
The report says that Croatian media have gained substantial freedom and the government has adopted important legal changes in the last few years. A new media law was passed in April 2004, which aims to protect independent media, but a provision stipulates that sanctions can be carried out against journalists who refuse to reveal their sources.
Libel remains a criminal offence in Croatia, and last year two journalists were given suspended prison sentences for criminal libel. A newspaper editor narrowly escaped a prison sentence for refusing to pay a high fine for libel. The fine was paid by the justice minister, fearing international criticism, according to the report.
Among the 27 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Croatia was ranked 10th, behind Bulgaria and before Serbia and Montenegro, whose media were also rated as partly free. Slovenia took fourth position and its media were classified as free.
Freedom House says that implementation of the Law on Right to Access Information in Croatia has been insufficient and that the Croatian Journalists Association has reported that access to information deteriorated in 2004.
The report says that the government's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal and other sensitive political issues are still difficult to cover for state-run and local media outlets.
The organisation cited two separate incidents when journalists were harassed by members of the Counter-Intelligence Agency (POA), which resulted in the replacement of the POA director.
Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) is the most important media outlet in the country, but that it has yet to transform from a state to a public broadcaster. Most local media are still at least partially owned by local authorities, according to the report.
Freedom House cited reports of government officials attempting to influence HRT's reporting. It said that a cabinet minister threatened to impose a value-added tax on the subscription fee for HRT, and that the speaker of the Parliament complained of HRT's coverage and threatened to make changes to the Law on HRT.
The report says that despite important improvements in some countries, the overall level of press freedom worldwide worsened in 2004, continuing a three-year downward trend.
Of the 194 countries and territories surveyed, 75 were rated as free, 50 as partly free and 69 as not free.