BiH: Republika Srpska reintroduces the crime of defamation - Article

On Thursday 20 July, the People's Assembly of the Republika Srpska adopted the Law on Amendments to the Crimial Code envisaging criminalization of defamation. Calls from international and local actors to protect freedom of speech and withdraw the scandalous provision that qualifies defamation as a criminal offense have gone unheeded

By Arman Fazlić

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA and BHS

Slavko Curuvija: impunity of the deep state in the case of murdered journalists in Serbia - Article

24 years after the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija, the perpetrators are still unpunished in Serbia. Although there is finally progress and hopefully the case will be finally solved, impunity remains widespread

By Massimo Moratti

Originally published by OBCT

SLAPPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Article

Also in Bosnia and Herzegovina one of the major obstacles to the exercise of the journalistic profession is represented by the so-called SLAPPs, lawsuits seeking to silence or limit the work of journalists and civil rights activists

By Arman Fazlić

Originally published by OBCT, also available in ITA and BHS

Against SLAPPs, the first European conference - Article

The first European conference for the fight against SLAPPs, also known as gag or reckless complaints, was held in Strasbourg on 20 October, organised by the European Center for Press and Media Freedom and the Coalition against SLAPP in Europe. The report of the event

by Sielke Kelner

Demonising the media: Threats to journalists in Europe - Reports

The report surveys over 3,000 media freedom incidents documented by Index on Censorship’s “Mapping Media Freedom” (MMF) project since May 2014 with a view to outlining key trends and categories

Journalism in Times of Crisis: Case Studies in Six SEE Countries - Reports

A study on the way the media in 6 South-eastern European countries have reported on recent socio-political crises

European Broadcasting Union - Media Intelligence Portal - Datasets

The European Broadcasting Union collects raw datasets on the functioning of public service media across the countries which are part of EBU

Indicators on the level of media freedom and journalists’ safety in the Western Balkans - Reports

Recently established "Regional platform for media freedom in the Western Balkans" warns about the increased use of physical violence as a tool of intimidation against journalists

Analitika - Stakeholders

Analitika - Center for Social Research is a NGO based in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Its mission is to enhance public policy processes with socially relevant, high quality research in the areas of rule of law, public administration reform, media and communcations.

A needs assessment of the Media Councils in South East Europe - Reports

This report commissioned by UNESCO and funded by the EU is the first comprehensive regional study on journalism's self-regulatory bodies aims to strengthen their functioning and the overall media accountability in South East Europe