Media

Türkiye: Big tech should protect free speech and resist state censorship

04/03/2024

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

North Macedonia: politics and toxic communication

04/03/2024 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

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 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

Romania: MFRR to conduct media freedom mission ahead of super electoral year

22/01/2024

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

MFRR highlights threats to media freedom in EU Commission’s Rule of Law report

19/01/2024

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

Greece: Ahead of court hearing, SLAPP lawsuit against media and journalists must be dropped

19/01/2024

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

Silencing Voices in Italy: The Erosion of Media Freedom

18/01/2024 -  Sielke Kelner

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

Albania: SPAK must respect source protection in case of journalist Elton Qyno

11/01/2024

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

Croatia, the assault on the local press

12/01/2024 -  Giovanni Vale Zagabria

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

Romania, travelling to tell stories

10/01/2024 -  Oana Dumbrava

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

Azerbaijan’s crackdown: same old tactics, just different names

13/12/2023 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

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?

Serbia: number of internet-based threats against journalists on the rise

07/12/2023

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

Hungary: Draft Sovereignty Protection Act poses fresh threat to independent media

04/12/2023

OBCT joins MFRR partners in drawing the attention of the European Union about the chilling impact of the new Hungarian bill on independent media

North Macedonia: Ruling against Investigative Reporting Lab and its editor must be overturned

24/11/2023

MFRR and SJN express dismay at judge's decision recommending that ministry shuts down one of the country’s leading investigative journalism platforms

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska president Dodik verbally attacks journalist

22/11/2023

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

Italy: MFRR partners condemn summons of RAI presenter Sigfrido Ranucci

15/11/2023

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

Open letter: “We refuse to let the anti-SLAPP directive be a missed opportunity”

08/11/2023

OBCT joins international organisations in calling for a robust anti-SLAPP Directive

Dismay at the abrupt closure of investigation into smear campaign against Emilia Șercan

07/11/2023

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

Turkey: International groups condemn arrest of journalist Tolga Şardan

03/11/2023

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

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Media freedom in survival mode

27/10/2023

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

End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

02/11/2023

On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, OBCT joins MFRR partners in remembering those European reporters whose families still await justice for their murders

Media freedom groups demand renewed investigation into crimes against Romanian Journalist

26/10/2023

In an open letter to the Romanian General Prosecutor OBCT joins journalists and media freedom organisations in condemning the negligent and error-strewn investigation into the crimes committed against journalist Emilia Șercan

Media Freedom in North Macedonia: fragile progress

02/11/2023

On 30 October 2023, the final report of the fact-finding mission that took place between 5 and 7 June was presented in Skopje. OBCT participated in the mission alongside other MFRR partners

Media freedom groups call for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and press safety in Malta

16/10/2023

OBCT joins international organizations in calling for Maltese authorities to bring to justice those responsible for Daphne Caruana Galizia's killing

Reporting surveillance: the experience of Omer Benjakob

16/10/2023 -  Dimitri Bettoni

Investigative tech reporter Omer Benjakob, member of the desk behind the publication of the cybersecurity focused newsletter NatSec+ for the newspaper Haaretz, speaks to OBCT/MFRR about the challenges of covering the surveillance tech industry in Israel, one of the countries that has developed this industry the most