Montenegro adopted a law on free access to public information 7 years ago, but in many cases the information required is withheld, and no one is sanctioned
According to a study conducted by a local Ngo, Bulgarian institutions are gradually improving their transparency when publicising the acts they issue. Nevertheless, much remains to be done
In Bulgaria, local administrations spend large sums to "finance" the media, thus influencing their editorial line – a concerning situation, especially outside Sofia
‘Okruženje’, the first and only regional TV current affairs talk show in the Western Balkans, awarded with the prize for ‘2016 Media Initiative of the Year’ at the European Citizenship Awards
Even though there is a good institutional and legislative framework defending the right to access information of public interest, some crucial issues are still unresolved
For liberal democracy as we know it, the decline of professional journalism is certainly bad news — without it, vocal majorities dictate political decisions increasingly rooted in extreme, intolerant values
The massacre of journalists continues unabated. Probably, 2016 will be remembered as one of the bloodiest years of the last two decades. But it is very hard to gauge how many actually have lost their lives while they were engaged in spreading information of public interest, and thus exercising a fundamental right
All-out interview with Viktor Ivančić, one of the founders of the legendary weekly Feral Tribune. The media in Croatia, the Balkans, and former Yugoslavia. The risks for democracy
On 10 January, Greek police arrested the publisher and the director of Parapolitika newspaper, Giannis Kourtakis and Panayiotis Tzenos, following a lawsuit filed against them for libel and attempted extortion by Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos
After a journalist involved in the campaign against BIRN in Kosovo in 2009 said the ruling party had been behind the whole affair, the party has hit back calling the claim 'a fairytale'
The weekly "NIN" was fined "for damaging the reputation of Serbia's Minister of Interiors". A sentence that, warns CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks, could have negative impact on media freedom in the country
For over 20 years, Omer Karabeg has hosted a programme titled Most (Bridge). The show deals with thorny, uncomfortable topics, seeking to create a dialogue between people of different viewpoints
Recently established, the regional platform for media freedom in the Western Balkans warns about the increased use of physical violence as a tool of intimidation against journalists
The situation of public radio-television in Bosnia and Herzegovina is deteriorating, while pressures increase for the creation of three ethnonational channels
Access Info Europe, a Madrid-based organization promoting access to information, filed a petition to the European Court of Justice asking the disclosure of the legal details of the EU-Turkey deal on migration
Nadine Gogu heads a centre in support of independent journalism in the country. She tells us about media oligarchs, Russian propaganda, and the future of online information
Media lynchings, physical assaults, threats. This is what investigative journalists face in Vučić's Serbia. An interview with Branko Čečen, director of the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS)
Censorship in Macedonia: the controversial case of Zoran Bozinovski, a journalist charged with criminal conspiracy, espionage and extortion, arrested in April 2016 and still in detention, while waiting for is trial to eventually start
250 years after the first transparency law in Europe adopted in Sweden in 1766, Europeans need access to information in practice, not just on paper. An editorial
On November 21st, OBC Transeuropa organises in Belgrade a writing marathon of Wikipedia entries on press freedom. The initiative is part of a larger project – here it is, in 10 points
