Media

JiR Milan: the new call

12/05/2022

As part of the new edition of the Media Freedom Rapid Response running from May 2022 till October 2023, the Journalists in Residence programme – Milan launches a new call for applications open to journalists and media professionals who are experiencing some risk/threat/intimidation to their person as a direct result of their journalistic work

Media freedom in Croatia: the problem is not the laws, but their application

02/05/2022 -  Giovanni Vale

951 trials against journalists, claims for damages for 10.3 million Euros. Numbers that show how the media world in Croatia is under pressure. We talked about it with Vanja Juric, a lawyer specialising in freedom of expression

Press briefing on EU anti-SLAPP proposals

22/04/2022

At a press briefing on Thursday 28 April, representatives from the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) will respond to the European Commission’s proposed measures (due to be announced on 27 April) to tackle the growing problem of SLAPPs in Europe

A conversation on surveillance in journalism

22/03/2022 -  Dimitri BettoniFederico Caruso

From the Pegasus spyware investigation to mass surveillance: a dialogue with researcher Philip Di Salvo to understand the impact of new technologies for all those involved in journalism and beyond

Nadezhda Azhgikhina: “Let’s remember that journalism is a public good"

08/03/2022 -  EFJ

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) interviewed Nadezhda Azhgikhina, Russian journalist, director of PEN-Moscow, and former Vice-President of the EFJ. Her views on media in the ongoing war

EFJ: Fighting disinformation with censorship is a mistake

03/03/2022

While UE Member States are officially invited to ban Russian state televisions RT and Sputnik, the European Federation of Journalists, our partner in the Media Freedom Rapid Response, fears the effects of this spiral of censorship on freedom of expression in Europe

Azerbaijan: according to the Council of Europe, the new media law violates human rights

25/01/2022

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović writes to the President of Azerbaijan, inviting him to act in order to bring the law in line with international and European standards on freedom of expression and media freedom

SLAPP: open dialogue with the Commission

15/12/2021 -  Paola Rosà

A public consultation on gag complaints is open until 10 January. In a meeting on the subject with organisations from all over Europe, which we attended on Thursday 25 November, Vice President of the European Commission Vera Jourova renewed her call for numerous contributions from all countries of the EU

Boris Dezulovic: hopeless Croatia

18/11/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Thirty years ago, the siege of the city of Vukovar – one of the symbols of the war in the former Yugoslavia – ended. Boris Dezulovic, leading Croatian journalist, in a recent editorial that we translated, tries to highlight the profound contradictions of today's Vukovar. This, however, earnt him death threats. We interviewed him

The protest of FNSI

09/11/2021

Since the beginning of October 2021, Italian journalists are in a state of labour unrest: as the General Secretary of the FNSI, Italian Journalists Union, Raffaele Lorusso, explains, they have good reasons to protest against the Italian government and the Italian parliament. In collaboration with the FNSI, OBCT contributed to realize this video for the monthly newsletter of the MFRR, Media Freedom Rapid Response

Turkey: Global appeal marks 2000 days in prison for Nedim Türfent

03/11/2021 -  Paola Rosà

We co-signed a call to release Nedim Türfent, behind bars for terrorism after a clearly unfair trial

Azerbaijan: the offshore family

22/10/2021 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The information leaked by the Pandora Papers shows, once again, the enormous wealth hidden abroad by Azerbaijan's ruling elite. But the latter denies it and media like la Repubblica provide them with a megaphone to cry conspiracy

Turkey: increasing digital censorship and state capture

11/10/2021

A delegation of 12 international organizations visited the country from 6 to 8 October: these are the first findings regarding media freedom

International press freedom mission to Turkey, Oct. 6 – 8, 2021

06/10/2021

We are joining other 11 press freedom and journalism groups to examine threats to independent journalism in Turkey

Oštro goes live in Croatia

29/09/2021 -  Oštro

The Oštro investigative portal, the Croatian version of the already well-known Slovenian investigative portal, has been active in Croatia for a few days. The area of interest will be the Adriatic region and therefore Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. The topics will be crime, corruption and the environment

Media in Croatia, unprecedented censorship

27/09/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

The Zagreb court applied temporary and preventive censorship against the H-Alter portal and journalist Jelena Jindra, effectively banning the publication and writing of further articles on the Municipal Children and Youth Protection Polyclinic and its director. Toni Gabric, chief editor of H-Alter, explains this unprecedented decision

The Google News Initiative Startups Lab

02/09/2021

Created in partnership between the Google News Initiative (GNI), German media innovation hub Media Lab Bayern, and the European Journalism Centre (EJC), the GNI Startups Lab Europe supports high-quality reporting for local communities, single-topic audiences and/or previously underserved communities. Deadline 20 September

Serbia: Vucic and the pro-government media against Twitter

30/08/2021 -  Vukašin Obradović Belgrade

Twitter recently flagged some Serbian outlets as "government-affiliated news media". Instead of opening a debate on the decision, the government and President Vucic have embarked on yet another smear campaign against non-aligned media

Montenegro, a justice free country

24/08/2021 -  Željko Pantelić

Interview with Milka Tadic Mijovic, one of Montenegro's leading journalists and president of the Center for Investigative Journalism, who has always been at the forefront of the fight for a better country and for the defence of freedom of expression

Bulgaria, the state sentenced to compensate Turkish journalist

05/08/2021 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Bulgaria for the 2016 extradition of a Turkish journalist, hastily handed over to the Turkish authorities who accused him of being part of the Fehtullah Gülen movement, in violation of national and international rules

Albania: Concern after government ally elected to head key media regulator

14/07/2021

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) expresses deep concern about the future impartiality and independence of Albania’s Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) following the election of a close associate of the ruling Socialist Party to head the media regulator

Citizens and democracy threatened by SLAPPs: preview of the draft resolution

23/06/2021 -  Paola Rosà

The CASE coalition of which OBCT is part has received the text that will be presented to the European Parliament next Monday: a commitment to defend the rule of law and public participation, which collects many suggestions and proposals from civil society organisations

A webinar series on data protection, privacy and journalism

11/06/2021

The European legal framework on personal data protection is constantly evolving and the issue of citizens’ privacy is increasingly central to the public debate. Journalists must move confidently in this area, to ensure that people’s fundamental rights are respected while fulfilling their reporting role

Slovenia: saving the STA

18/05/2021 -  Stefano Lusa Capodistria

Thirty years after its foundation, the future of the Slovenian News Agency is at risk. Janez Jansa's government has blocked state funding pending the delivery of a number of documents. For the agency, however, the request is an undue political interference

Albania: political parties are doing their own "journalism"

11/05/2021 -  Gentiola Madhi

In the recent electoral campaign for the political elections, the staff of the main political parties created their own editorial products, which were then often transmitted and published as they were, without journalistic mediation. Propaganda defeated information

Nicolas Kayser-Bril: Investigating the Instagram Algorithm

26/03/2021

Nicolas Kayser-Bril, ​data journalist at ​Algorithm Watch, ​coordinated AW-EDJNet’s ​joint investigation on Instagram’s algorithm . In this video, he explains ​why the subject ​matters and how it could be approached, despite the lack of transparency of the algorithm. Data suggests that Instagram has a bias in favour of pictures of scantily clothed men or women – this has an impact both on creators’ business and on users’ views.

Serbia: journalists don’t feel safe

19/03/2021 -  Vukašin Obradović Belgrade

The media situation in Serbia continues to deteriorate, as illustrated by the recent withdrawal of five journalists’ and media associations from the Working group on safety and protection of journalists, set up by the government last December. Repeated attacks against KRIK journalists were the straw that broke the camel’s back

Croatia: public TV against its own journalists

16/03/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

For the second time, Croatian public television HRT fires journalist Hrvoje Zovko, a defender of media freedom for many years. The employer cites a breach of contract, Zovko's lawyer Vanja Juric the desire to punish him for his trade union activity

Serbia, vexatious lawsuits against journalists

12/03/2021 -  Vukašin Obradović Belgrade

The director of the N1 television station and the editor-in-chief of the television portal have been sued with a request for one million Euros in compensation by Telenor, which is becoming increasingly aggressive towards United Media – a company that owns some Serbian media including N1

Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence 2021: transformation

11/03/2021

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and ERSTE Foundation inform that the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is opening its 2021 call for applications