Italy: MFRR open letter to the President of the European Parliament and the President of the European Commission - Article

MFRR partner organisations sent a letter to President Metsola and President von der Leyen to express serious concerns about the declining media freedom in Italy and bring to their attention the findings of the recent advocacy mission to Rome

Research on the Pressures on Local Media in Serbia (July 2022 - May 2024) - Reports

Published in Serbian, this study is conducted by “Lokal Pres'' and funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the pressures faced by local media in Serbia over the period from July 2022 to May 2024

Serbia: media independence is an exception rather than the rule - Article

Increasing political and financial pressure threatens the independence and editorial autonomy of many media outlets in Serbia. We interviewed Irina Milutinović, Senior Research Associate at the Institute of European Studies in Belgrade and co-author of the Country Report on Serbia of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2023

By Serena Epis

Originally published on OBCT , also available in ITA

Romania: Super election year calls for press freedom assessment - Article

Upcoming mission of European media freedom consortium to evaluate concerns

Uncovering news deserts in Europe: Risks and opportunities for local and community media in the EU - Reports

The research is focused on detecting challenges and opportunities for local and community media and identifying "news deserts" in the 27 EU Member States.

Media Capture in the Western Balkans: From captured states to captured media - Reports

The policy brief produced by Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI)  provides an analytical insight into the mechanisms behind media capture in the Western Balkans countries, as a phenomenon that negatively affects the media landscape in those countries through impairment of media freedom and pluralism. With the region being on track for EU accession, media capture presents a paramount problem that the brief addresses

Silencing the Fourth Estate: Italy’s democratic drift - Article

Media freedom coalition sounds the alarm on political meddling and legal threats to journalism

Also available in ITA

Ukraine: MFRR partners highlight ongoing press freedom issues - Article

MFRR partners today highlight ongoing press freedom concerns in Ukraine, over two years following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. While Ukraine was at first quick to unite in the face of armed aggression, setting aside internal conflicts and arguments, the climate of trust between officials and independent media seems to have seriously deteriorated, two years on

Petition against attacks on Domani newspaper, and for media freedom in Italy - Article

Over 70 international organisations and media, including the Media Freedom Rapid Response, signed a petition in support of three journalists from the daily newspaper Domani who risk up to nine years in prison. While the European Media Freedom Act promises to strengthen the protection of journalistic sources, in Italy investigative journalism risks being turned into a crime

Independence of Slovakia’s leading TV news channel must be protected - Article

OBCT joins the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in expressing concern about the actions of the Slovak government towards Slovakia’s leading commercial broadcaster, TV Markíza, aimed at silencing its critical journalism. We call on Markíza’s owners, the Central European Media Enterprises (CME), to resist the pressure and guarantee the editorial independence of the newsroom