News

Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the EFJ

01/07/2022

Quickly resolving the economic issue relating to journalists, fighting harder against SLAPPs or gag complaints, using the rule of law to improve media conditions. These are the keywords of Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

by Giovanni Vale

A joint statement on the European Media Freedom Act

30/06/2022

Along with 17 organisations, OBCT signs a joint statement to address issues around the forthcoming draft proposal for a European Media Freedom Act

A letter to the incoming Czech Presidency on the European Media Freedom Act

30/06/2022

Ahead of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we signed a letter to the Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala regarding the forthcoming European Media Freedom Act

Romania: a joint letter on the case of Emilia Șercan

28/06/2022

OBCT joins a group of media freedom organisations in a letter to Romanian authorities concerning the case of Emilia Șercan. We express our concern about the delay in the investigations into the publication of her stolen photos and the alleged leak of key elements of the investigation into this offense. Romanian translation is available below

Media Pluralism Monitor final conference 2022

28/06/2022

The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom presents the results of the 2022 Media Pluralism Monitor, the yearly study that assesses the health of media pluralism in the EU27, Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey

CASE: Expert Brief on the European Commission’s EU anti-SLAPP Proposals

27/06/2022

The Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe gives an overview of the recent EU anti-SLAPP package adding its own recommendations, suggestions, amendments

Spain: Fine against photographer underscores urgent need for reform of Gag Law

21/06/2022

Media freedom organisations urge the Spanish government to undertake a reform of the controversial Ley Mordaza in line with international human rights standards

Temporary Relocations. A toolkit

14/06/2022

This summary of issues, open questions, recommendations, and suggestions on how to implement a residency programme for journalists under pressure is the result of OBCT research consulting existing literature and conducting several interviews with managers and beneficiaries. This 10-page document goes through the main aspects of the implementation of a journalists-in-residence programme, highlighting 19 issues that are considered to be the most problematic and interesting at the same time. The toolkit is also accessible as a pdf.

Curated by Paola Rosà, May 2022

Turkey: international groups call on parliament to reject the “disinformation” bill as a tool of digital censorship

08/06/2022

Law designed to expand censorship online and criminalize free flow of information

PATFox: training for lawyers to identify SLAPPs

03/06/2022

Pioneering anti-SLAPP Training for Freedom of Expression seeks to train the lawyers defending journalists and media organisations, NGOs and activists against companies and governmental figures using lawfare to shut down legitimate criticism