Estonia has seven national daily newspapers, an astounding figure for a country of just 1.5 million people. Five of the national dailies are printed in Estonian, two in Russian. Still, newspaper readership has dropped sharply in recent years. According to World Press Trends, that figure has now dropped to 171 out of every 1,000. Most of Estonia's newspapers belong to the Estonian Newspaper Association, a watchdog group that has campaigned for higher press standards and objectivity in reporting.
Vigilance is especially important since there are no press laws in Estonia.
The press is regulated through the Copyright, Competition, Language and State Secrets Acts. Cases of libel are governed by the civil and criminal codes. Observers say vigilance should not be confined to the printed press but should also be focused on television and radio stations. The station failed to tell viewers, however, that the program was a paid advertisement by the Center Party, one of 12 political groups contesting this weekend's elections. Unfortunately, it wasn't the only case where Estonian broadcasters have failed to make a clear distinction between an advertisement and a news report.