Democracy’s next great challenge – strengthening institutions to protect journalism [Advoc
Source: Euractiv
Journalism as a public good is in danger, and the strengthening of institutions will be key in the upcoming five years. How the European Commission deals with the issue could set an example for other countries to follow.
The Euractiv virtual conference, discussing threats to media freedom and how we can protect it, brought to attention the need for the new Commission to use existing tools and regulations more effectively and expand to safeguard good journalism.
A recent report by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) noted an increasing number of attacks and threats against journalists in Europe. It recorded that physical attacks, online threats and harassment of journalists are on the rise in several European Union Member States.
Governments are threatening media freedom
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual World Press Freedom Index showed that press freedom around the world is under threat by political authorities, who should be the ones to guarantee this freedom.
RSF noted a worrying decline in support and respect for media autonomy and mounting pressure from the state or other political actors, disabling journalists from delivering reliable, independent, and diverse news and information.
Although countries where press freedom is “good” are all in Europe, and more specifically within the European Union, RSF mentioned the cases of Hungary, Malta and Greece as the three lowest-ranked EU countries where press freedom is being put to the test.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, once dubbed “Trump before Trump”, has long been criticised for undermining media freedom and pluralism by taking a series of legislative measures and steps to limit independent reporting, facilitating media takeovers by owners and investors who are politically aligned with his Fidesz party.
Media strategy
“We have a lot of instruments at our fingertips that can be used. The annual monitoring in the rule of law reports, and its media freedom and pluralism section is a check on how member states are doing,” Sofia Karttunen, legal officer at DG Connect, told the panel.
Earlier this year, two pieces of legislation were adopted to ensure greater protection of journalists and further support for media freedom.
New rules against Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) started to apply, providing journalists and human rights defenders with tools to fight back against abusive court proceedings.
There is also the European Media Freedom Act, which supports editorial independence and media pluralism, enhancing transparency and fairness and promoting better cooperation among media authorities.
All these initiatives form part of a European strategy for the media, building on the European Democracy Action Plan and the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan.
Political courage
The issue now remains whether Europe will have the political courage and confidence to use all the tools that are in place to drive a more positive narrative.
“The diagnosis is more or less clear; it is about actions. This is a competition not only between authoritarians and liberal democracies, not in terms of which one has fewer sins, but rather which one can deliver,” MEP Sergey Lagodinsky said during the discussion.
“If citizens see that democracies do not deliver in terms of their security and their welfare, they will go over to the dark side. We need to strengthen institutions. This will be the big challenge of the upcoming five years,” he added.
How the Commission deals with this issue is certain to have an impact on countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood. At the same time, problems in these countries risk having a spillover effect on the bloc itself.
“The West needs to act now in order to defend democracy,” warned journalist Katie Shoshiashvili in her remarks during the discussion, reminding that her country, Georgia, and others who aspire to EU membership look to Member States as role models for protecting the rights of journalists and civil society.
[Edited By Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]
The original article: belongs to Euractiv .
