The Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists listed 201 serious violations of media freedom in 2020, in a report published on Wednesday 28 April.
This figure marks a 40% increase from 2019 and is the highest figure recorded since the platform was established in 2014. A record number of alerts concerned physical assault (52 cases) and harassment or intimidation (70 cases).
The report analyses the threats to freedom of press: impunity for murders of journalists (24 cases still pending), judicial harassment, State pressure on independent media (curbing subsidies and access to official information), political pressure on public media, media concentration in State or private hands, etc.
Furthermore, the emergency measures decided during the Covid-19 pandemic were disastrous for press freedom, the report points out, pointing to a series of specific restrictions, the economic challenges faced by quality media and the dismissal of many journalists.
In a statement on Wednesday, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, urged European governments to “show stronger political will to protect journalists and independent journalism in order to put a stop the deterioration of media freedom in the continent”.
On 10 and 11 June, a ministerial conference co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Cypriot government will define the Organisation’s future priorities in the field of information society and media freedom. It will address the effects of mass digitalisation on freedom of expression and threats to the safety of journalists.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2QvNPiZ (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)