A study recently presented at the European Parliament focuses on the media situation in Southeast Europe. It introduces a new concept: that of integrity
Hundreds of journalists have been killed around the world in the past decade, with nine out of ten cases going unpunished, the UN and independent press freedom groups said in statements marking the first-ever International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2nd
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama mentioned Kosovo's independence during his historic visit to Belgrade. It was enough for Serbian media to start a smear campaign against him
The International Press Institute (IPI) released three documents in mid-July as it started work on a project on defamation laws and press freedom in Europe aimed at raising public awareness about the need of legal reform in this area, as well as at ensuring that European journalists are able to defend their rights more effectively.
Journalists should speak up about the problems they face in their work, as there are problems everywhere in Europe. An interview with Oliver Vujović, SEEMO Secretary General
Croatian journalist Zrinka Vrabec Mojzeš spoke at the Skopje Media Forum about the dangerous relations among politics, media and media owners in the region, and advocated the need for a European-level legislation on media. Interview
Media concentration and lack of ownership transparency are a major obstacle to media pluralism and freedom in Bulgaria. According to media law expert Nelly Ognyanova, neither of these obstacles can be removed without political will. Interview
Turkey and Azerbaijan share many cultural ties. Now there is something new to add to the Azerbaijani-Turkish friendship. Both countries have now been hosts to the annual multi-stakeholder Internet Governance Forum
The SEEMF it's an international annual meeting that gathers european journalists and media workers. At the 2014 edition, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso will present the interim results of its research and the activities carried out in the framework of the "Safety Net for European Journalists" project
The abolition of "Utisak Nedelje", a popular political talk show broadcast on B92 TV and directed by Olja Bećković, caused a true storm among Serbian journalists. But this is not the only programme gone missing from the schedules
Slovenian media market is assessed as free by the main international watchdogs, although under a strong State influence and lacking strategic private ownership. An interview with Marko Milosavljević, Head of the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lubiana
Serbia adopted new rules that require the State to leave media ownership. Media associations have welcomed the new legislation, introduced as a result of pressure from Brussels
EU states are failing to reach relevant international standards on freedom of expression, as defamation remains a criminal act in 23 out of all 28 members of the bloc, the International Press Institute (IPI) said on July 17th
Reporters Without Borders warns that access to media and information can be dropped from United Nations development goals. Protection of the right to information is in danger of being weakened or disappearing altogether, to be replaced a vague reference to freedom of expression
Svetlana Lukić, editor of "Peščanik": the long rule of the Democratic Party, Boris Tadić, and his court set up a mechanism of media control. Vučić - once Milošević's minister of Information- inherited it and added his own, Šešelj-style, "charm"
Ljubica Grozdanovska Dimishkovska, author of international report critical of the country's level of democracy, was criticised for her analysis, with pro-government media seeing it as serving the interests of the opposition as well as those of Greece
In Bulgaria, freedom of the press and expression has dramatically declined in recent years. Among the principle causes are media concentration, self-censorship and pressure on journalists. We spoke about this with Professor Orlin Spasov
The Serbian government is facing increasingly frequent accusations of web censorship. The interventions by the OSCE and the European Commission, the reactions of prime minister Vučić
The Bosnian Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York City recently premiered a documentary movie on the White Armband Initiative, the event taking place in Prijedor each year on May 31st. Transitional justice experts Refik Hodžić and Eldar Sarajlić discussed the process of dealing with the past in the country
Aleksandar Vučić's government seems to be adopting a double standard when it comes to media: one for the EU, one for Serbia, with tight control over newspapers and television stations
Croatia's new Criminal Code establishes the offence of "humiliation", a barrier to freedom of expression that has already claimed its first victim among journalists – Slavica Lukić, of newspaper Jutarnji list
Are freedom of information and journalism in danger in Romania? An interview with Ioana Avadani, the Director of the Center for Independent Romanian Journalism
Attempts at media reform in Serbia appear to have run aground. International organizations are denouncing a number of abridgments of press freedoms within the country, which are slowly amounting to a new form of control
Georgia has embraced the idea of open data as a vital component of open government. Critics, however, say data usability is still out of reach. A vital civil society sector could make the difference
Controversial measures restricting internet freedom make critics cry censorship, in a country where freedom of information is already under pressure. The pressure of the new corruption scandals
Italy and fellow EU members Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovenia, as well as EU candidates Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are among the 180 states included in Reporters Without Borders (RWB) annual survey of press freedom in the world. Only three of them have improved their standings
Media in Serbia are surely not in the same position of those surviving under authoritarian regimes, but since the latest elections the situation has seriously worsened
