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
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
The human rights commission of the Council of Europe publishes a memorandum denouncing the Anatolian country's extreme hostility towards freedom of expression and towards journalists, human rights defenders and civil society
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
22 rights groups and journalists’ organisations jointly call on social media platforms to uphold the free expression rights of their users and resist state censorship
According to a recent study, public discourse in North Macedonia is saturated with toxic narratives: these are spread not only by political parties and characters, but also by the media, often incapable of carrying out their role as a filter and guarantor towards the public
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
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
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
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
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
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
On 22-25 January, OBCT and IPI - as part of MFRR - will conduct an on-line fact-finding mission to assess the current state of media freedom in the country
OBCT and MFRR partners participated in the European Commission's public consultations on the rule of law providing updates on media freedom in EU countries
OBCT joins international freedom of expression and media freedom organisations in condemning a vexatious lawsuit filed against Greek journalists and media by the nephew of the Prime Minister
Italy's media is in crisis, battling legal onslaughts and facing a surge of censorship one year after the establishment of the far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni
OBCT signed a joint letter together with media freedom partners in the SafeJournalists Network, the Media Freedom Rapid Response, and Reporters Without Borders addressed to the head of the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) to raise concerns over the recent attempts to reveal the source of Albanian journalist Elton Qyno
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
A journalist and a photographer from Romania have been living in a van for ten years to be able to write their investigations on how life is in Romania and how expatriate Romanians live. They are Elena Stancu and Cosmin Bumbut: we met them
Recently a series of arrests in Azerbaijan, targeting independent media and their few journalists, has brought to mind the repression of civil society and bloggers 10-15 years ago. But has the persecution of Azerbaijan's civil society ever stopped?
The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation has published its third report on the state of freedom of expression in Serbia, encompassing the period from January 2021 to June 2023
OBCT joins partner organisations of the MFRR and South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) in condemning Milorad Dodik's verbal attacks and threats against N1 journalist Snezana Mitrović
OBCT, together with MFRR parteners, condemns the summoning of RAI presenter Sigfrido Ranucci by the Parliamentary Committee and urges the Italian Parliament to guarantee RAI independence
OBCT joins media freedom groups in expressing deep disappointment at the decision of Romania’s Prosecutor Office at the Bucharest Court of Appeal to close the investigation into the smear campaign against the Romanian journalist
International organisations defending media freedom, freedom of expression and human rights, including the MFRR consortium, and journalists' organizations strongly condemn the arrest of journalist Tolga Şardan in Ankara
Following a press freedom mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 22-25 October 2023, the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) warn that media freedom in the country is in decline against a backdrop of new restrictive laws, hostile rhetoric and denigration of journalists by public officials, and ongoing systemic challenges to the independence of public service media
