Report on media freedom in Romania ahead of Super Election Year - Article

Mission report highlights political influence, vexatious lawsuits and online harassment in Romania

Report on media freedom in Romania ahead of Super Election Year - Mission Report on Media Capture, Legal Obstacles and Journalists’ Safety - Reports

Following the online fact finding mission to Romania coordinated by OBCT and IPI, the report explores the challenges faced by Romanian media professionals at a time of political change

North Macedonia, media and public funds - Article

In view of the upcoming political and presidential elections, the Macedonian government has reintroduced forms of public funding for the media. However, the country's media organisations argue that the move may aggravate the influence of political interests on news outlets

By Aleksandar Samardjiev 

Originally published by OBCT, also available in ITA

MFRR Monitoring Report 2023 - Reports

The partners from the MFRR consortium publish the latest edition of its Monitoring Report which documents press freedom violations from January to December 2023

Georgia: MFRR partners denounce smear campaign against journalist by speaker of the Parliament - Article

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express concern at the discrediting of a prominent Georgian journalist by Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament. The comments come amid a broader wave of smear campaigns against independent media in Georgia by Papuashvili and others

SafeJournalists and MFRR: Physical Confrontation with Journalist in Serbia is Unacceptable and Must be Sanctioned - Article

SafeJournalists Network and the Media Freedom Rapid Response strongly condemn the behavior of the local authorities in Indjija, who forcibly removed the journalist Verica Marincic from the municipality building and prevented her from doing her job. We appeal to the competent authorities to investigate this incident in which the journalist was injured

Safeguarding women journalists in the digital age - Article

On International Women’s Day, MFRR coalition partners publish a critical examination of attacks against women journalists in the European Union and candidate countries

Türkiye: Big tech should protect free speech and resist state censorship - Article

Ahead of Türkiye’s municipal elections on 31 March 2024, 22 rights groups and journalists’ organisations jointly call on social media platforms to uphold the free expression rights of their users and resist state censorship. They should also fully disclose all government requests to restrict accounts or content, and be transparent about informal government pressure to restrict content on their platforms.

Croatia, journalists on the streets - Article

Hundreds of journalists took to the streets in Zagreb against the Plenković government's amendments to the Criminal Code, which limit the right to report. According to the Association of Croatian Journalists, the prime minister wants to silence investigations into his government's corruption

By Giovanni Vale 

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA

Silencing Voices in Italy: The Erosion of Media Freedom - Article

Italy's media is in crisis, battling legal onslaughts and facing a surge of censorship one year after the establishment of the far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni

By Sielke Kelner

(Originally published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung , 16.01.2024)