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NEWS ITEM: When Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych took to the stage of the World Newspaper Congress in Kyiv on Sept. 3, he was greeted by roughly 16 journalists who rose from their seats to hold up posters to protest government censorship and the nation's deteriorating climate for free speech. The journailsts accused media owners, the government and Yanukovych of controlling the mainstream media and pressuring smaller, more independent outlets. Ukraine placed 130th among nations in the most recent Freedom House survey of media freedoms. Yanukovych ignored the protesters, plowing through his speech and criticizing “wrong stereotypes regarding lack of freedom of speech in our country.”