KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 -- Malaysia has moved up to 122nd place in the Press Freedom Index 2011/2012 compiled by Reporters Without Borders. In the 2010 index, Malaysia was ranked 141th.

The latest index showed that Malaysia was ahead of regional countries like Singapore (135), Thailand (137), the Philippines (140) and Indonesia (146).

Finland and Norway topped the press freedom survey of 179 countries, followed by Estonia and the Netherlands at 3rd place, with Austria coming in at 5th position.

Rounding out the top 10 countries in terms of press freedom were Iceland and Luxembourg at 6th place, Switzerland (8), Cape Verde (9), while Canada and Denmark tied at 10th place.

At the bottom of the list were Turkmenistan (177), North Korea (178) and Eritrea (179).

According to the report, Pakistan (151) was the world's deadliest country for journalists for the second year running.

"Somalia (164), which has been at war for 20 years, shows no sign of finding a way out of the chaos in which journalists are paying a heavy price," it noted.

BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39, was killed while on duty in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Sept 2, last year, which led to calls for better protection for Malaysian press sent for coverage in war and disaster zones worldwide.

The report said that the United States, at 47th place, owed its fall of 27 places to the many arrests of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street protests.

Commenting on its 10th annual press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders said: "This year's index sees many changes in the rankings -- changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world."

It noted that many media personnel paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations.

"The past year also highlighted the leading role played by netizens, in producing and disseminating news," said the organisation, which noted the entry of Cape Verde and Namibia into the top 20. -- BERNAMA