News

Multiple journalists threatened and harassed in Serbia, authorities must take urgent action

05/12/2022

OBCT joins the Media Freedom Rapid Response partners and the Safe Journalists Network in condemning in the strongest terms the intimidation and often orchestrated campaigns by pro-government media outlets and members of the public to silence journalists in Serbia

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Whistleblowing in Italy: a conference

30/11/2022

Whistleblowing is a phenomenon that touches different worlds: from psychology to the media, from trade unions to civil society, from the role of the individual to the political responsibilities of the state. OBCT will participate in a panel of the conference dedicated to SLAPPs

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Italy: Newspaper Domani sued for defamation by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

25/11/2022

At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing in the proceedings for aggravated defamation initiated by current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni against Emiliano Fittipaldi and Stefano Feltri, respectively correspondent and editor of the daily national newspaper “Domani”, we call on Prime Minister Meloni to withdraw the defamation lawsuit and to initiate a reform process targeting defamation laws in the country

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Slovenia: Media freedom groups back legislative efforts to depoliticise public media

24/11/2022

We welcome the initiative of the Slovenian coalition government to reduce the influence of politics over RTV SLO. The draft proposal is an important first step towards the depoliticisation of the broadcaster

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Milan city of refuge: protected residences for threatened journalism

18/11/2022

A public event to present the Journalist-in-Residence (JiR) project, coordinated by OBC Transeuropa, Q Code Mag and the European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium, to relaunch the idea of ​​Milan as a shelter city for journalists. Two journalists who have benefited from the JiR protection programme will be present and will share their experiences

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Bulgarian far-right party’s ‘foreign agent’ bill sparks media freedom concerns

17/11/2022

Press freedom groups raise alarm that law appears intended to target critical media

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Italy: a call in support of Roberto Saviano, defendant in a defamation trial

16/11/2022

At the conclusion of the first hearing in the proceedings for aggravated defamation initiated by current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni against Roberto Saviano in 2021, we express our solidarity with the Italian journalist for his commitment to the public interest

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Serbia: Protect journalists and denounce death threats against them

15/11/2022

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response express deep concerns about the death threats against journalists of the daily independent newspaper Danas

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Italy: Concern about prosecutor’s demand for prison sentence for three journalists in response to their factual reporting

28/10/2022

Media freedom groups raise concern over Lecce’s prosecutor request that three journalists be jailed for six months in connection with their reporting about a labour lawsuit involving a former government minister. No journalist should face nor fear prison sentences for having published information in the public interest

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Netherlands: Press freedom groups concerned about video with hostile rhetoric by Dutch politician against political reporter

25/10/2022

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and its partners express today their concerns about hostile rhetoric used against an independent journalist by Dutch political party Forum for Democracy (FvD). Such problematic language creates an intimidating climate for public interest journalism, normalises both online and physical targeting of the press, and can lead to self-censorship amongst the journalistic community. We urge the FvD to put an end to its dangerous smear campaign against independent media

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