The Invisible Hand of Media Censorship in the Balkans
Balkan Free Media Initiative will be launching his first research report. Antoinette Nikolova, founder of the Balkan Free Media Initiative, will discuss the findings of the report together with pannelists from Italy, Serbia, North Macedonia and Bulgaria
While cases of intimidation of journalists, including physical violence, are well-documented, there is less focus on the commercial practices frequently employed by state actors to undermine objective journalism, control public discourse and consolidate political power.
In its first report, the Balkan Free Media Initiative examines three methods used to control media markets:
– Control of public broadcasters and regulatory authorities tasked with upholding media laws
– Abuse of weak regulation on transparency of ownership or its enforcement to enable illegal control of media outlets by governments or their proxies
– Use of government subsidies to foster clientelism in weak, over-saturated media markets
Antoinette Nikolova, founder of the Balkan Free Media Initiative, will discuss the findings of the report together with:
Panellists
Tamara Filipović, Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS)
Peter Whitehead, Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)
Naser Selmani, Former President of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia
Peter Horrocks OBE, Ofcom Content Board Member
Andrea Bonanni, Columnist, La Repubblica
Moderator
Georgi Gotev, senior editor of EURACTIV.com and Publisher of EURACTIV.bg
The event will be followed by a drinks reception.
Due to Covid restrictions, the capacity of the event is limited. Please confirm your in-person attendance on our email: info@balkanfreemedia.org
It will be a hybrid event. If you would like to attend online, please register here
INFO
Balkan Free Media Initiative
