Digital surveillance shaping the public sphere. The case of the use of spyware on journalists - Reports

This paper examines how intrusive spyware targeting journalists undermines the public sphere. Through a comparative analysis of Greece, Italy, and Spain, it assesses legal safeguards against surveillance under Article 4 of the European Media Freedom Act. Findings reveal fragmented national frameworks with inadequate journalist protections, generating chilling effects that threaten investigative journalism and democratic accountability across EU member states.

Information as a Public Good: why media freedom is essential to democracy - Reports

This Legal and Policy Report, authored by Andrea Oleandri and produced within the STRIVE 2026 project supported by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) and the European Union, argues that the quality of a democracy depends on the quality of its information space, and that the traditional framing of press freedom—centred on protecting individual expression from state censorship—is no longer sufficient to guarantee a genuinely free and pluralistic media environment

World Press Freedom Day: Six years of monitoring reveals emerging threats against media freedom in Europe - Article

To mark World Press Freedom Day, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is today publishing an analysis  of six years of monitoring data, which reveals in granular detail the most serious challenges and trends threatening freedom of the press in Europe

Hungary: Media freedom reform must be priority for incoming Tisza government - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in calling on the new Hungarian government to make media freedom reforms a priority 

Serbia: Total impunity entrenched 27 years after killing of editor Slavko Ćuruvija - Article

Twenty-seven years after the assassination of Serbian newspaper publisher and editor Slavko Ćuruvija in Belgrade, the undersigned media freedom organisations mark the upcoming anniversary of the killing by lamenting the complete impunity for those responsible for one of the most serious attacks on journalism in the country’s history.

Italy: MFRR flags ongoing media freedom erosion - Article

Media freedom in Italy has continued its overall downward trajectory in the past two years, amidst the car bomb attack on one of the country’s most famous journalists, new spyware attacks on reporters, politicisation of the public broadcaster, legal harassment of journalists by governing politicians, and continued concerns over media pluralism, partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) said today

EU’s Dangerous ‘Return Hubs’ Policy: A Threat to Journalists in Exile - Article

OBCT joins ECPMF and partner organisations call on the EU to reconsider the policy and place the protection of those fleeing persecution at the centre of its approach

Media freedom under electoral siege: money, law, and silence between the lines - Article

When it comes to Macedonian media, Brussels notes “limited progress,” the OSCE warns of unequal access to the media space, and the civil sector speaks of a system of soft censorship and quiet dependence on state funding

By Metamorphosis Foundation

European Democracy Shield: Bolstering independent media at the core of democratic resilience - Article

In the face of rising digital manipulation, shrinking civic space and collapsing media business models, the European Democracy Shield offers an important opportunity to ensure safety of journalists and media viability, among other things, but only if turned into concrete action. This is what MFRR aims to follow

EU Enlargement Package: Assessments must now translate into meaningful media freedom action - Article

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today welcomes the publication of the 2025 EU Enlargement Package  and highlights key media freedom developments and concerns that should shape negotiations with candidate countries moving forward