Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) / Projects2 / Homepage - Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa
Logo del progetto Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR)

 

Press and media freedoms are increasingly at risk. After its first edition (March 2020-March 2021), the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) has been confirmed for the third year, this time covering a period of 18 months, from May 2022 till November 2023: it monitors violations in all EU Member States and Candidate Countries and documents them on the Mapping Media Freedom platform. 

Furthermore, the MFRR provides practical and direct support to journalists and media workers who are at risk due to their work through emergency funds, legal aid, training, and shelter programmes. MFRR partners also carry out advocacy missions and awareness-raising campaigns to secure a wider engagement in European civil society with issues related to press and media freedom.

Within the project, OBCT makes further use of its Resource Centre on Media Freedom to support evidence-informed policymaking and advocacy, and supports QCode Mag in managing the programme Journalists-in-Residence Milan.


......................................................................
OBCT news on media and journalism

Serbia: Spyware attacks on BIRN journalists

redazione | 28/3/2025

Further alarm about the deepening press freedom crisis: revelations showing evidence of the abuse of advanced Pegasus spyware

Serbia: MFRR media freedom mission to visit Belgrade and Novi Sad

redazione | 28/3/2025

The partners organisation of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) will conduct a mission to Serbia between 7-9 April to meet with journalists, media stakeholders and law enforcement authorities amidst a rapidly worsening media freedom crisis.

REPORT Albania begins one-year TikTok ban

Erion Gjatolli | 18/3/2025

The Albanian government has imposed a one-year ban on TikTok, citing concerns over the platform’s influence on young people. The decision has been criticized for its lack of transparency and its potential impact on freedom of expression, particularly in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections on May 11

Serbia: unpunished attacks on journalist Dinko Gruhonjić persist, impunity must end

| 14/3/2025

The members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium and partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform are deeply concerned about the ongoing year-long persecution campaign against journalist Dinko Gruhonjić, programme Director of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Associate Professor at the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad

MFRR and SJN condemn adoption of foreign agent legislation in Bosnia’s entity Republika Srpska

| 5/3/2025

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners and SafeJournalists Network (SJN) strongly condemn the adoption of legislation in the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will establish a "special registry” of NGOs, many of which are independent media

Serbia: MFRR and SJN urgently call to stop targeting and intimidating journalists

3/3/2025

OBCT, together with its partners from the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and the SafeJournalists Network (SJN), strongly condemns the increasing and systematic attacks on journalists and NGOs in Serbia

Croatia: Tackling political pressure, legal challenges and precarity to revive media freedom

| 24/2/2025

Outdated media laws, compromised public media independence, SLAPPs, as well as mounting economic, political, and physical pressures are undermining journalism and media freedom in Croatia, as outlined in the latest Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) report

Ukraine: MFRR partners stand with journalists, 3 years since start of full-scale invasion

| 24/2/2025

On 24 February 2025, Ukraine marks three years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. While the current scale of Russian attacks against journalists cannot be compared to that at the start of the war, they remain worryingly high and persistent

Italy: MFRR calls for full transparency after Fanpage editor-in-chief surveilled with spyware technology

redazione | 18/2/2025

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today urge Italian authorities to shed full light on the recent surveillance of an editor-in-chief in Italy and others using spyware technology developed by Israeli firm Paragon Solutions.

INFORMATION Yes, journalism needs public funding

Lorenzo Ferrari | 14/2/2025

The sudden cut in US support for civil society organizations abroad is also putting many media outlets in crisis, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Their voice is important for democracy, but there are not many viable alternatives for their financial sustainability

MFRR Monitoring Report 2024

| 12/2/2025

The latest annual Monitoring Report analyses the press freedom situation in 35 European countries, including the 27 EU Member States and nine countries with EU candidate status. Between January and December 2024, Mapping Media Freedom documented 1,548 press freedom violations targeting 2,567 media-related persons or entities – an alarming increase compared to the 1,153 violations recorded in 2023

CURRENT EVENTS USAID suspension in BiH, a hard blow to media and civil society

Sarajevo | Darko Kurić | 18/2/2025

The suspension of the US government's international aid programmes, one of the first decisions taken by Donald Trump after taking office, has triggered a wave of uncertainty around the world, and Bosnia and Herzegovina is no exception

INVESTIGATION Trentino, journalism and gag complaints (2)

Paola Rosà | 28/1/2025

Media outlets in Trentino are targeted by mayors, entrepreneurs and even magistrates; however, tracking this form of legal harassment remains challenging. Second part of an investigation into the phenomenon of SLAPPs in Trentino

INVESTIGATION Trentino, journalism and gag complaints

Paola Rosà | 27/1/2025

Between announced complaints and warnings, we heard from 4 newspaper editors, the union and an investigative journalist. First part of an investigation into the SLAPP phenomenon in Trentino

Press freedom partners call for release of Mzia Amaglobeli, end to crackdown on free press

24/1/2025

OBCT joins press freedom and human rights organizations in calling for the immediate release of Georgian journalist Amaglobeli, an end to media repression, and an investigation into her mistreatment

MEDIA Salonicco, journalism on the metro

Thessaloniki | Mary Drosopoulos | 17/1/2025

By combining investigative rigour with creative storytelling, local journalists in Thessaloniki have kept the public informed, but also ensured that the metro remains a shared civic concern, a story owned by the people as much as by the trains themselves

As part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response project, OBCT organised on 17 October 2023 an international conference aimed at unpacking the nexus between rule of law, media and democracy.
Here you can find all the materials and video recordings of the event

Events:

SLAPPs against the media in Europe: is the EU response sufficient and what remains to be done?

22 Apr 2023 | Incontro | Perugia

The objective of the panel co-organized by ARTICLE 19 Europe and OBC Transeuropa, as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism, is to highlight the phenomenon of SLAPPs at the national level and unpack the anti-SLAPP developments at the European level

MFRR Summit 2023: Press Freedom on the Line

29 Mar 2023 - 31 Mar 2023 | Summit | Online

Reflecting the MFRR’s core campaign areas, the online conference will host in-depth discussions on journalist safety, media capture, the rule of law, and SLAPPs. Hosted on Zoom for interactive participation, and simultaneously livestreamed on the MFRR YouTube channel, the summit will feature a range of panel discussions, live interviews, and keynote speeches with journalists, media freedom experts, policy-makers, and other stakeholders all working to defend press freedom in Europe

MFRR Summit 2022 - Boosting Press Freedom

22 Mar 2022 - 24 Mar 2022 | Conferenza | Online

La conferenza annuale del progetto Media Freedom Rapid Response, una tre giorni online aperta dalla vicepresidente della Commissione Europea e da un discorso di Roberto Saviano

MFRR Summit

17 Mar 2021 - 20 Mar 2021 | online

(Conferenza finale del primo anno di Media Freedom Rapid Response, con giornalisti, esperti, rappresentanti della Commissione Europea. Quattro giorni di eventi e dibattiti)

Media freedom is in jeopardy but there is no democracy in Europe without a free press in Europe

Between 17th and 20th March, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), which monitors and tracks media freedom violations, will bring together leading journalists from over 13 countries and representatives of press freedom organisations, unions and journalist bodies to discuss key threats and trends that underpin threats to media freedom across Europe

Chi ha paura dei giornalisti? Il report MFRR Italia

11 May 2022 | online | online

In occasione della pubblicazione del report sulla Missione Italia, il consorzio MFRR propone un momento di discussione sugli esiti della tre giorni di ricognizione tenuta dalla delegazione agli inizi di aprile

MFRR in Focus: Europe

4 Oct 2021 | WEBINAR | online

In questo appuntamento online, che avrà cadenza bimestrale, i partner del consorzio Media Freedom Rapid Response presentano le questioni più urgenti che minacciano il giornalismo in Europa, negli Stati membri e nei paesi candidati

MFRR in Focus 6

24 May 2022 | online

Per l'appuntamento mensile con il webinar di MFRR, OBCT ha realizzato un'intervista a una videomaker freelance di GVpress: Cristina Pantaleoni, incontrata a Roma durante la missione Italia di MFRR, racconta le difficoltà dei videogiornalisti durante gli scontri con manifestanti e polizia

MFRR in Focus 5

15 Mar 2022 | Webinar | Online

Il quinto episodio del webinar mensile di MFRR si concentra sulle questioni di genere nel giornalismo, dedicando una puntata alle donne, a una settimana dalla Giornata Internazionale dell'8 marzo / The 5th edition of the MFRR monthly webinar focuses on women journalists, a week after International Women's Day

Dossier

OBC Transeuropa -as member of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium- conducted a research on the needs of European journalists and the gaps in support mechanisms. From verbal harassment against media operators to groundless legal charges, what can be done to tackle these issues

2021

Authors: Maria Francesca Rita, Sofia Verza, Luisa Chiodi

Language: English

..........................................................................................................................
Other OBCT projects on media freedom

The project European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) aims to protect press freedom and to promote transnational public debate on violations registered in the European Union, the Enlargement and the Eastern Partnership countries. In 2018, the project enters its fourth year of activity thanks to the renewed support by the European Commission.

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) brings together different European entities working in support of media freedom - the Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig , initiator of the ECPMF based in Leipzig; the two monitoring centres Oxygen for Information  (Rome) and South East Europe Media Organisation  (Vienna); Journalismfund.eu (Brussels); and the Institute of European Media Law  (Saarbrücken).

Press freedom and freedom of expression have a crucial role for the functioning of democratic societies. Despite this, in Europe journalists are threatened, censured or intimidated and this affects the citizens' right to information. OBC, together with SEEMO , Ossigeno Informazione , Professor Eugenia Siapera  (Dublin City University) and a broad network of media partners in 11 European countries, devoted a year to studying the challenges to press freedom and the needs of journalists in Italy, South East Europe and Turkey. The project "Safety Net for European Journalists. A Transnational Network Support for Media Freedom in Italy and South-east Europe" is co-financed by the European Union. 

 

 

 

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) started in March 2020 as a one-year pilot project co-funded by the European Commission.