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

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

Turkey: International delegation condemns passage of disinformation law and calls for protection of journalists ahead of 2023 elections - Article

This week, seven media freedom, journalism, and human rights organisations met with key stakeholders in Turkey to discuss Turkey’s media freedom crisis

Albania: Press freedom groups call for a fair trial in defamation lawsuit by former top prosecutor against Isa Myzyraj - Article

The defamation case filed against journalist Isa Myzyraj by a former Tirana's prosecutor raises our concerns. MFRR and media freedom organisations call for a fair trial in which the importance of free speech and public interest reporting is appropriately considered

Serbia: Support for OK Radio as it faces intimidation by powerful businessperson - Article

Threats and pressure on media outlets by powerful business interests cannot be met with impunity

Tackling Impunity – Lessons from the Public Inquiry into the Assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia - Reports

The Tackling Impunity report examines the role of a Public Inquiry in shedding light on the context that resulted in the assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017

Media Pluralism Monitor 2022 - Monitoring tool

The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a tool developed by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom to assess the risks for media pluralism in 32 European countries (27 EU Member States and 5 candidate countries). In its 2022 edition, it confirms the findings of the previous years

Synergies and training are needed against SLAPP, or gag complaints - Article

Media expert lawyer Andrea Di Pietro positively comments on the anti-SLAPP package of the European Commission and stresses the need for training initiatives aimed at legal practitioners, to recognise and combat the gag complaints that threaten freedom of expression and the right of citizens to participate in the public debate

by Paola Rosà

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

Romania: a joint letter on the case of Emilia Șercan - Article

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

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