RSS news import / Media Freedom in Europe - Resource Centre by OBCT

UK: Independent commission recommends to strengthen freedom of information act

by Sofie Luise Burger On 01 March 2016, a commission installed by the British government to review the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has presented its findings. After several months of review, the commission now recommends to strengthen the law in several aspects. The National Archives, A corridor of files at The National Archives UK, CC BY 3.0 The FOIA was introduced in 2005 and the possibilities it introduced were quite popular: in the last five years, about 300.000 requests have been submitted to the authorities. The information requests are usually free of charge and the authorities are legally obligated to…

Source: European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

Fighting for the right to free media

by Michelle TrimbornTogether with its partner organisations the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom celebrates World Press Freedom Day –with a reminder that press freedom in Europe is under threat. Since 1993, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has been raising awareness on World Press Freedom Day about the state of media freedom and freedom of expression all over the world. This year the newly- founded ECPMF joins the discussions for the first time at the 2016 meeting in Helsinki, Finland. And there is a lot to discuss. Many panels focus on how to implement safety mechanisms…

Source: European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

thousandwords

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is proud to announce its first competition for young writers. Young people under 27 are invited to write one thousand words about what press and media freedom means to them. This can take the form of an essay, a newspaper or magazine article, poem, play or blog post in any of these languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Hungarian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Albanian, Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian, Greek, Bulgarian, Flemish, Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Romanian. The multi-lingual jury made up of ECPMF Board Members, Consortium Partners and team will select a shortlist of five…

Source: European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

Press freedom is decreasing, says Commissioner for Human Rights

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Nils Muiznieks paints a worrying international situation and makes proposals to reverse the trend. Interview with Oxygen “Regrettably, freedom of expression and the right to information are shrinking in many countries. We have to reverse the course, strengthen press freedom, with a broader and more detailed vision

Source: Ossigeno Informazione » O2 in English

Protests in Macedonia: one more colour for press freedom, please

Since April 13, tens of thousands of people go out on the street in Macedonia to protest against the political regime with a colourful, peaceful fight

Source: Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - ECPMF News

What’s at Stake in Algorithmic Accountability

Nick Couldry, Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at LSE, explores the challenges for social theory and civic debate in addressing the outcomes of automated systems and decision making. We live in a time when the contexts of knowledge production are changing fundamentally: the multiple interlinked processes that generate claims to knowledge (from data collection and aggregation to data […]

Source: Media Policy Project

“Press Freedom i declining”. Human Rights Commissioner raises the alarm

Nils Muiznieks interviewed by Ossigeno per l’Informazione on the eve of the event of May 3rd From Strasbourg, the Council of Europe Commissioner illustrates the international framework and advances suggestions to reverse the trend. Interview with Ossigeno per l’Informazione OSSIGENO, April 28th, 2016 – “It is sad to say it, but the freedom of information

Source: Ossigeno Informazione » O2 in English

Calabria. Arrested author of threats against journalist Comito

In 2011 Pietro Comito received a threat letter at the newsroom of Calabria Ora. Parliamentary inquiry on security, signed by the M5S On April 20, 2016, within the investigation called “Costa Pulita” (Clean Coast), the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro (Calabria) has issued an arrest decree against some affiliates of the Accorinti clans, including the

Source: Ossigeno Informazione » O2 in English

“Why not invite refugees to produce media?”

by Vesselin DimitrovHow do German media report the events during the so called “refugee crisis”? Do they have the right tools to cover the constantly changing event, do they go deep enough to keep the balance when informing – and influencing – the general public and the decision-makers? Dorothée Hefner from the Department of Journalism and Communication Research in Hannover (Photo: Sven Stolzenwald für VolkswagenStiftung) The students at the Department of Journalism and Communication Research in Hannover (yes, the same Hannover Barack Obama visited the other day) discuss these aspects in the lecture “Flight, Media, (intercultural) Communication” (“Flucht, Medien, (interkulturelle) Kommunikation”).…

Source: European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

Ukraine: TV-host Savik Shuster on hunger strike

Journalist and TV-presenter Savik Shuster declared to be on hunger strike until Ukrainian authorities will allow him to work. Before, his work permission was annulled. TV-host Savik Shuster (Photo: https://www.facebook.com/shusterlive) The state employment agency had withdrawn the permission to work from regime-critical TV-host Shuster. The reason for this behaviour is an ongoing criminal proceeding because of tax avoidance, explained the authorities to local media in Kiev. According to this announcement, Schuster tried to hide the investigations against him from the employment agency. He is charged for not having paid taxes for his production company “Savik Shuster Studio”, where the Ukrainian tax office…

Source: European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)