Over 120 journalists, representatives of journalists’ organisations, national media regulators and press councils, as well as academics, politicians, and civil society activists gathered on 15-16 February at the Solidarność Centre in Gdansk, Poland, for a conference on “Free European Media”. The event has concluded with a number of proposed steps, including the need to strengthen partnerships between all stakeholders. The event has been organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in cooperation with the Council of Europe (CoE), the Nordic Journalism Centre, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and the International Press Institute (IPI), with the support…

This is the keynote speech given by Matthew Caruana Galizia, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at ICIJ, at the conference “Free European Media” which took place in Gdansk, 15-16 February 2018. What are ethics? What is self-censorship? My father, brothers and I spent our first Christmas without my mother together, in a cottage hidden away in rural England. We cooked, played Monopoly and watched cowboy films by Sergio Leone. It reminded me why my mother liked them so much- her first regular column was called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In life, like in these parables disguised as films, there are the good…

This is the keynote speech given by Harlem Désir, Representative on Freedom of the Media for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), at the conference “Free European Media” which took place in Gdansk, 15-16 February 2018.   Mr. President of the European Federation of Journalists, Mogens Bjerregård, M. President of the City of Gdansk, Pawel Adamovicz, Mr. Director Basil Kerski, who welcomed me at the European Solidarity Centre two years ago, Dear Secretary General Ricardo Gutiérrez, Dear Director Patrick Penninckx, Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to be back in Gdansk, a free city since centuries, and to have the opportunity to speak with…

This is the welcoming speech given by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), at the conference “Free European Media” which took place in Gdansk, 15-16 February 2018.   Distinguished hosts, colleagues, partners, guests – welcome to this conference that is a part of a larger program focusing on the increasing conflict between media and politics that we witness recently. The organisers for this conference are European Federation of Journalists, the Council of Europe, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the International Press Institute and the Nordic Journalism Centre. This conference should not be seen as…