Media Capture Monitoring Report: Romania - Measuring compliance with the European Media Freedom Act - Reports

The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) have recently published a timely analysis assessing the state of media capture in Romania

Country Report: Albania - Article

The media sector in Albania is rather unstable. While certain areas have seen progress, the state of media freedom and protection for journalists remains precarious and needs stronger safeguards

By Sukanya Sengupta 

The Capture Effect: How Media Capture Affects Journalists, Markets and Audiences - Reports

Marius Dragomir explores the growing phenomenon of media capture

Media Freedom Mission to Romania questions fairness of electoral coverage - Article

Urgent reform of political funding for ‘press and propaganda’ needed to end media dependency on political parties

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

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

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, the assault on the local press - Article

2024 is the year of elections for Croatia: European, political and presidential elections will take place between next June and December. And with the electoral competitions, the race for control of the local media, particularly the regional ones, is gaining ground in a hardly transparent way

By Giovanni Vale 

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA and BHS

Hungary: Draft Sovereignty Protection Act poses fresh threat to independent media - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in drawing the attention of the European Union about the chilling impact of the new Hungarian bill on independent media

Media freedom at a crossroads: Journalism in Poland faces uncertain future ahead of election - Article

MFRR partners organised a mission in Poland to assess the challenges that Polish media face ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled on the 15th of October 2023. The main findings and a set of recommendations in their newly published report