Open Up. As broadband spreads, more foreign media firms are peddling press freedom

    Microblogging Pushes the Envelope (China)

       China's state-controlled news outlets, which complete fiercely for stories and revenue, are starting to push back in a small way against government censorship as private sites like Sina Weibo air stories  of foul play by the Communist Party. Private news outlets like Caixin, the Economist of China, are growing, as is foreign ad investment. Economics remains easier to cover without restriction than politics.

   Free- press Laws Take Hold (Brazil)

           President Dilma Rousseff vowed to crack down on censorship following allegations about press freedom that circulated during her election campaign in 2010. After entering office, she signed a landmark freedom--f- information law, which takes effect yhis month. Legal changes and a bubbling  pay-TV market - which is expected to triple in size over 10 years - should help foreign and domestic outlets crack Brazil's cabal of family-owned media firms. Plus, broadband access shot up 19% last year.