Hungary: almost 78% of the media are pro-government

The European Federation of Journalists has expressed concerns over the state of media freedom and independence in Hungary following the publication of a study showing that the majority of media in the country are pro-government. It was published on 2 May by the media monitor Mérték and investigates the level of independence of the Hungarian media, stating almost 78% of the media are pro-government. The study, commissioned by a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Sven Giegold (the Greens), shows the far-reaching media power of the ruling Fidez-party. In November 2018 the creation of the government-related media foundation KESMA uniting…

Public service media in focus in Bucharest

Around 40 journalists and journalists’ representatives from 24 European countries attended the workshop on “Modernising public service media (PSM) through innovation and dialogue” on 4 and 5 March in Bucharest. Co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Romanian trade union FAIR – Media Sind, and with support of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) the workshop addressed the challenge for public service media to adapt to the changing way of consuming and creating news and media. Workshop on 'Modernising public service media through innovation and dialogue' just started! Thank you Fair @MediaSind and @ro2019eu for the opening remarks…

Public service media in the Western Balkans – Ensuring complaint mechanisms and audience engagement

The regional workshop on developing  complaint mechanisms and/or improving existing ones for Public Service Media in Western Balkans has started today, 21 February, in Tirana, Albania. The workshop brings together the program directors and editors-in-chief from the six PSM to discuss, examine and assess the role of complaint mechanisms  with European experts in the field.  What are the conditions for an effective complaint mechanism? How can complaint mechanisms improve relations with the audience and thereby  trust and quality in psm? The importance of media literacy will be highlighted with examples from the region, as it is closely related to audience…