Media in Montenegro - Article

After the dissolution of Yugoslavia and a transition period, in Montenegro - now a candidate country for EU membership - the evolution of the media landscape continued in parallel with the attempts to accelerate democratic developments. Interview with Mihailo Jovović, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Vijesti

By Sava Mirković

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA and BHS

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

Serbia: New draft media laws represent another step backward for media freedom - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in expressing concerns over the new draft Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media. We call for the Serbian government to revise the latest draft versions of the laws and ensure that their provisions comply with European and international standards on freedom of expression

Country factsheet: Hungary - Article

In 2020, a number of threats to media pluralism and transparency have continued to further marginalise and threaten media freedom across Hungary. Due to the expansion of pro-Government outlets and the weaponisation of government advertising, most Hungarian citizens receive news only from pro-government outlets. With this kind of control, there is no need to directly attack critical journalists, as they are excluded from the media market. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis had arguably the biggest effect on media freedom

Safety of Journalists and the Fighting of Corruption in the EU - Reports

A study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee (Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) examines the chilling effect of crimes and threats against media workers, exploring regulatory and other measures to counter the phenomenon

Media Freedom made in Scandinavia: six examples of best practices - Reports

This report of a fact-finding mission to Scandinavia organised by ECPMF with the participation of EFJ and OBCT shows policies and approaches that can inspire change for the better, suggesting what governments and media actors can do to defend media freedom

Media capture: Toolkit for 21st century autocrats - Article

©Text Vector/Shutterstock

The 8th of a series of thematic itineraries to explore the Resource Centre on Media Freedom through a curated aggregation of contents. 

Fact-finding mission to Czech Republic, 7th-8th October 2019 - Reports

From the very difficult position of local media to the Prime Minister's links to the outlets he used to own, the Czech Republic's issues in the field of freedom of expression are very evident, and the delegation has clear recommendations to give

IJF19: Can thematic newsrooms help fill the public-interest gap? - HTML5 video

Over the past 3 or 4 years, a few donors and NGOs have started investing directly in funding, launching, or incubating thematic units staffed and run by journalists, and producing independent investigative journalism to cover public-interest issues they care about. Not everyone is comfortable with that, while others see this as natural

Bulgaria: media ownership in a “captured state” - Reports

A report on the fact-finding mission by ECPMF and OBCT on Bulgaria’s media ownership structures and their implications for media freedom