OSCE Report On Media Freedom Shows Declines in Western Europe
August 2, 2010
By: Randi Zung

According to the inaugural media freedom report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), media freedom is being threatened in most European countries.  The report, which was written by the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović, stated that threats to media freedom were found in several established Western European democracies – including France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.  Other countries with threats to media freedom included: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.  The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 56 participating States. 

During a press conference for the release of the report, the International Press Institute reported that Mijatović’s highlighted the plight of jailed Azerbaijani bloggers Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli, the recent attack on Serbian journalist Teofil Pancic, and the recent murder of Greek journalist Socratis Giolias.  In addition the report also listed other high-profile incidents of crackdowns on media censorship, such as an Italian draft law that would impede investigative journalism, attacks on journalists in Russia, and the Hungarian parliament’s recent adoption of a series of restrictive laws that are viewed as a major threat to media freedom.

Addressing the varying degrees of censorship found throughout the OSCE monitored region, the report stated, “The freedom to express ourselves is questioned and challenged from many sides. Some of these challenges are blatant, others concealed; some of them follow traditional methods to silence free speech and critical voices, some use new technologies to suppress and restrict the free flow of information and media pluralism; and far too many result in physical  harassment and deadly violence against journalists.”

The EU Observer reported that in addition to tracking developments of media freedom in traditional broadcast media, the OSCE is currently compiling a comprehensive report on internet freedom in the OSCE region.

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