News Mfrr

North Macedonia, media and public funds

21/03/2024 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

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

The European Parliament adopts the European Media Freedom Act

14/03/2024

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

Italy: MFRR partners strongly condemn investigation into Domani journalists

07/03/2024

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

International Media Freedom and Human Rights Organisations Demand Release of Journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu in Upcoming Trial

01/03/2024

On the day of a new hearing of journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu, MFRR partners and international media and human rights organisations call for immediate attention to her case and her unjust detention which starkly violates international legal standards and media freedom

The Anti-SLAPP Directive creates a promising minimum standard for Member States

29/02/2024

The Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe welcomes the adoption of the Anti-SLAPP Directive in the European Parliament. This directive sets the minimum standards for protecting public watchdogs against abusive litigation in the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Montenegro: Jelena Jovanović, journalist targeted by the mafia

14/02/2024 -  Vukašin Obradović Podgorica

Dealing with organised crime and risking your life, needing police protection just to be able to do your job and live your everyday life. Jelena Jovanović, journalist from the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, explains what it is like to live under police protection

Serbia, no justice for the Ćuruvija murder

07/02/2024 -  Massimo Moratti

Twenty-five years after the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija and nine after the start of the trial against the four accused of the murder, after a first conviction in 2019 and the repetition of the trial, on Monday 5 February the Court of Appeal of Belgrade acquitted the defendants

Croatia, journalists on the streets

02/02/2024 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Hundreds of journalists took to the streets in Zagreb against the Plenković government's amendments to the Criminal Code, which limit the right to report. According to the Association of Croatian Journalists, the prime minister wants to silence investigations into his government's corruption

Report launch: Bosnia and Herzegovina, media freedom in survival mode

26/01/2024

OBCT and MFRR partner organizations published the full report from their international press freedom fact-finding mission that took place last October in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serbia: media pillory for independent journalists

31/01/2024 -  Massimo Moratti

Verbal attacks and serious threats against two journalists from independent broadcasters, the Cenzolovka portal and even an NGO and a Belgrade court judge raise concerns about the climate of increasingly heavy repression in Serbia