The survey of 227 newspaper editors and managers in 66 markets found:

- The majority of newspapers consider economic climate and conditions in the market to be the major challenge to the business development of their media outlets. Political challenges were cited as a major challenge in many of the least developed markets, while technology was more of a concern in the developed markets.

- Pressures related to editorial independence diminish as countries climb the ladder of economic development. A large proportion of companies in advanced economies report no such pressure.

- Respondents from Latin America and Africa consider economic pressures to be the number one threat to editorial independence, while those in Asia indicated political pressure as the leading threat to independence.

- As countries ascend the scale of economic development, obstacles related to new technologies start to emerge as factors in media business development. In the least developed and emerging economies, new technologies still do not represent a relevant business or editorial challenge.

The full survey, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, will be released at the end of March.