UNESCO - Stakeholders

UNESCO is the UN specialized agency with the mandate to promote "the free flow of ideas by word and image", and to nurture freedom of expression, media development, and access to information. It provides governments with technical advice on legal, regulatory, policy and other critical issues, and educates and builds capacities of journalists, media professionals and institutions.

UNESCO has a long-standing experience of promoting freedom of expression and media development in transitional countries, particularly in South East Europe and Turkey. In this respect, UNESCO contributed to the Guidelines for EU support to media freedom and integrity in enlargement countries 2014-2020.

From 2009 until 2011, UNESCO implemented the project "Alignment to International Standards in the Media Sector of South East European countries". From 2013 to 2015, a second project was implemented under the title "Media Accountability in South East Europe". In January 2016, the project "Building Trust in Media in South East Europe and Turkey " was launched, with the aim of supporting media accountability mechanisms, internal governance of media entities and media and information literacy in EU candidate and potential candidate countries with financial support of the European Commission, DG Near. 

International Press Institute (IPI) - Stakeholders

The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists. The institute is dedicated to the furtherance and safeguarding of press freedom, the protection of freedom of opinion and expression, the promotion of the free flow of news and information, and the improvement of the practices of journalism. 

IPI works by:

• conducting direct advocacy with governments
• raising awareness on violations of media freedom through news coverage, research and analysis
• leading programmes and campaigns to further change
• offering platforms for cooperation, networking and skills exchange among our members
• promoting high-quality, independent journalism through the development of best practices at the global level
• providing opportunities for dialogue among diverse journalistic communities, in line with IPI’s founding principles

IPI runs a project called OnTheLine, that aims at promoting online journalists’ safety and countering threats against press freedom and freedom of expression in the digital sphere.

Freedom House - Stakeholders

Freedom House (FH) is an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world. Freedom House assesses the challenges for media and online freedom in its annual Freedom of the Press and Freedom on the Net reports. The organization supports local efforts to defend freedom of expression and to promote the emergence of alternative media, assists embattled journalists and counteracts the rising tide of government control over the internet. 

World trends in freedom of expression and media development: Special digital focus 2015 - Reports

Since 2011, UNESCO increased its activity in monitoring the status of press freedom and safety of journalists, with emphasis on cases of impunity for violence against journalists. This Special Digital Focus 2015 devotes specific attention to selected digital-era trends such as Online hate speech, Digital security and digital rights

Press freedom in Turkey's inter-election period - Reports

Pressure on journalists operating in Turkey has severely escalated in the period between the two parliamentary elections held on June 7 and November 1st 2015. The report has been produced following an Emergency Press Freedom Mission conducted by 8 organizations in October 2015. It assesses the rising pressures and threats on journalists as a serious obstacle to free and fair elections

Backgrounds, Experiences and Responses to Online Hate Speech: A Comparative Cross-Country Analysis - Reports

With funding from the EU's Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme, a recent report by the PRISM project has empirically investigated online hate speech in France, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK

Mérték Media Monitor - Stakeholders

The Mertek Media Monitor is a watchdog organisation and think tank founded in 2011 in Budapest to contribute to the Hungarian and European discourse on freedom of expression and press freedom. Mertek Media Monitor promotes the transparency of media policy decisions, evaluates media policy measures and lays out its own policy proposals.

On</the>Line - International Press Institute - Support Centres

On</the>Line is the International Press Institute (IPI)’s digital media initiative and seeks to expose and counter a range of threats against press freedom and free expression in the digital sphere – e.g. via Twitter, Facebook, email etc. – including threats of violence, of death or other harm. The website includes a specific section, the Ontheline Platform for Newsrooms , with the aim to collect and share resources and best practices for media outlets and journalists. In providing these tools to newsrooms, it aims to not only counter the negative personal and professional impact of online abuse on journalists but also help prevent self-censorship arising from online attacks that threatens the public’s access to the news.

Center for the protection of freedom of expression - Centar za zaštitu slobode izražavanja - Support Centres

Inaugurated in July 2015, the Center for the protection of freedom of expression is a service offered by the Association of Croatian Journalists (Hrvatsko Novinarsko Drustvo). The Center is open to collaboration by all interested lawyers, experts and other professionals who want to contribute to this project aiming to protect freedom of expression. Interested professionals may contact the Center at the HND (telephone number 01 4828 333) or by contacting the president of HN, Saša Leković (mob.: 098 484049). The timetable of lawyer available at the Center can be consulted here .

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) - Stakeholders

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 72 journalists’ organisations across 45 countries.

The EFJ fights for social and professional rights of journalists working in all sectors of the media across Europe through strong trade unions and associations. The EFJ promotes and defends the rights to freedom of expression and information as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European convention on human rights.

The EFJ supports its affiliates to foster trade union development, to recruit new members, and to maintain or create environments in which quality, journalistic independence, pluralism, public service values, and decent work in the media exist.