Kurdish press freedoms have changed

http://en.rsf.org/report-iraq,152.html

According to Reporters without Borders, many of the violent attacks against Kurdish media networks in Iraq have been replaced with lawsuits and government pressures. Political figures have blocked journalists from accessing certain places, or challenged the legality of what was written in the newspapers as a form of “defamation”.

                Many publications have been sued, and some journalists have received death threats and other forms of deterrents to prevent them from conducting their work. Even media that tend to be favorable to the government are challenged in the court room. 

These threats in general have prevented journalists from conducting their work and causing journalists to spend time fighting lawsuits rather than conducting their work.