Launched on Thursday 5 October at an international conference held this week in the Latvian capital, Riga, “Journalists Matter”, the Council of Europe’s campaign on the safety of journalists, is due to run until 2027.
It is a response to the continuing deterioration in press freedom, documented in particular by the “Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists” set up by the Organisation.
More than 1,600 alerts concerning serious threats have been recorded since 2015.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has stressed that “it is almost impossible to think of a true democracy without diverse and independent media acting as ‘public watchdogs’ and generating public debate”.
“This conference is important”, commented Ricardo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the European Federation of Journalists, who was present in Riga. “One of its most important outcomes is the decision to set up a reference person on media freedom and the safety of journalists in each of the Council of Europe member states”.
“These national ‘focal points’ can be contacted in the event of an attack on press freedom, will be responsible for the ‘national action plans’ called for in the campaign and will form a European network. Professional organisations expect commitment, independence and efficiency”.
The first meeting of these “focal points” is scheduled for 6 October in Riga.
Other aims of the campaign are to improve investigations into crimes against journalists and to ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are appropriately punished.
Link to the ‘Journalists Matter’ campaign website: https://aeur.eu/f/8wp (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)