Call for Italian political forces to take a stand against SLAPPs, a ‘slap’ in the face of freedom of information - Article

The right of citizens to be informed about matters of public interest and of journalists to write freely about them cannot and must not be hindered by SLAPPs. Civil society's appeal to the future parliament to promote measures to contrast strategic lawsuits

Monitoring Report - Mapping Media Freedom January - June 2022 - Reports

The current Monitoring Report tracks media freedom violations across Europe during the first semester of 2022

Turkey: Twenty journalists including TGS leadership blacklisted by police - Article

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) expressed solidarity with the twenty journalists blacklisted by the Turkish General Directorate of Security (EGM) for their writing and joined the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) in denouncing an apparent attempt to intimidate independent journalists and trade unionists

Fažana Media Fest 2022 - Article

Organised by the investigative journalism center CIN-IJC, the fourth edition of the Fažana Media Fest will be an opportunity to explore the role of women in the media

Albania: Letter to Prime Minister Edi Rama from international press freedom organisations - Article

OBCT signed a letter addressed to Albanian PM Edi Rama in protest against a decision to ban journalists from attending press conferences after they asked challenging questions. Such an arbitrary restriction seriously affects the ability of the press to carry out its watchdog role. Albanian translation is available below

Greece: MFRR partners welcome acquittal of journalists in Novartis criminal case - Article

Criminal case points to far deeper issues for press freedom in Greece

Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the EFJ - Article

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

Temporary Relocations. A toolkit - Article

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 - Article

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

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022 - Reports

Based on a survey of over 93,000 online news consumers in six continents, the Digital News Report 2022 reveals new insights about digital news consumption