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

MFRR Monitoring Report 2023 - Reports

The partners from the MFRR consortium publish the latest edition of its Monitoring Report which documents press freedom violations from January to December 2023

Call for withdrawal of Slovakia’s repressive broadcast law - Article

Slovak government attempts to take over the public broadcaster

Journalists and media freedom groups call for the urgent withdrawal of a proposed legislation allowing political control over public-service media in Slovakia. The bill threatens independent information, especially before the June European Parliament elections, contradicting the recently voted EU's Media Freedom Act

LETTER TO EU - Press freedom organisations call for urgent EU action to prevent political take-over of Slovak public media - Article

OBCT joins international journalists’ and media freedom organisations in expressing its concern to EU leaders over Slovak new public broadcaster's law

Safety of Journalists Behind the Headlines: Threats, Attacks, and Pressure on Journalists in Serbia - Reports

The report shows results from a research project  jointly funded the Council of Europe and European Union, conducted in collaboration with the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS)

Coalition calls for effective implementation as the Parliament adopts the EMFA - Article

OBCT, as part of the EU Media Advocacy Working Group, welcomes the adoption of the European Media Freedom Act by the European Parliament and calls for an effective implementation of the new regulation

Safeguarding women journalists in the digital age - Article

On International Women’s Day, MFRR coalition partners publish a critical examination of attacks against women journalists in the European Union and candidate countries

Italy: MFRR partners strongly condemn investigation into Domani journalists - Article

OBCT and MFRR partners note with concern that Italian press freedom has fallen under renewed pressure. We call for the preliminary investigation of three Domani journalists to be immediately dropped, and we urge Italian authorities to respect the confidentiality of journalistic sources in line with international and European press freedom standards

2023 Report on the Activities of the Permanent Working Group for Safety of Journalists - Reports

Amid a global increase in violence against journalists, the report acknowledges that in 2023 the Permanent Working Group for Safety of Journalists in Serbia (PWG) made notable progress, with several initiatives undertaken to bolster journalist safety in the country

Türkiye: reverse a critically hostile environment - Reports

The country increasingly turning into a hostile environment for freedom of expression and for journalists, human rights defenders and civil society