Media freedom in Italy has continued its overall downward trajectory in the past two years, amidst the car bomb attack on one of the country’s most famous journalists, new spyware attacks on reporters, politicisation of the public broadcaster, legal harassment of journalists by governing politicians, and continued concerns over media pluralism, partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) said today. The findings of the MFRR consortium, shared at a press conference in Rome following a follow-up advocacy mission on 9-10 March, conclude that since our organisations’ previous visit to Italy in 2024 the climate for press freedom and…

To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today in publishing alarming data highlighting how women journalists across Europe continue to face enhanced risk through systematic gender-based violence in the past year. Our 2025 monitoring documented 53 cases of gender-based violence targeting women media professionals across EU Member States and candidate countries, including online smear campaigns, threats of sexual violence and derogatory comments about physical appearance. This data, recorded on the MFRR’s Mapping Media Freedom platform, reaffirms that women journalists are disproportionately affected by gender-based…

A recent defamation decision by the Court of Appeal in North Macedonia against the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL) is a worrying development for media freedom in the country which should be overturned on further appeal, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) said today. At a public hearing before the Court of Appeal in Skopje on 26 February, the court ruled against IRL’s appeal and upheld the defamation verdict previously handed down to the media outlet and its editor-in-chief Saška Cvetkovska. IRL is an independent and non-profit investigative media platform and a local partner of the Organized…

On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in hailing the continued courage of journalists in the country who continue to report on the war despite serious risks – and waning international attention. As we mark the anniversary, our organisations honour and remember the journalists who have been killed while reporting on the war and in the line of duty. We pay our respects to these reporters, who made the ultimate sacrifice in bringing news on the war to Ukrainian and international audiences. As documented in…

Ahead of the eighth anniversary of the murder of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in renewing the call for full justice for their brutal killing. With the new retrial of the twice-acquitted but alleged mastermind Marian Kočner now again underway in Bratislava as of January 2026, hope remains that all those responsible for ordering and carrying out this assassination will eventually face justice for their crimes. On 21 February 2018, Kuciak and Kušnírová were fatally shot at…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), will conduct an advocacy mission to Rome, Italy, on 9–10 March 2026 to assess key developments affecting press and media freedom in the country and push for implementation of crucial reforms.  The mission will focus on four main themes: the reform of the public broadcaster RAI and its compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA); the transposition of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive and broader defamation reform; digital threats and the use of surveillance against journalists; and media market concentration and its compatibility with the EMFA. …