European Centre for Press and Media Freedom

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is a non-profit organisation that was founded in Leipzig, Germany, 2015. It operates on the basis of the European Charter on Freedom of the Press and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The vision of the Centre is a society where media freedom enables open discourse and everyone can seek, receive and impart information.

ECPMF’s mission is to promote, preserve and defend media freedom. We do this by monitoring violations, providing practical support and engaging diverse stakeholders across Europe.

Read ECPMF's strategy 2020-24

News

Serbia: judiciary must give access to justice for journalist Milan Jovanovic

10 February 2021 The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) urges the Second Basic Court in Belgrade to ensure access to justice in the case of Serbian journalist Milan Jovanovic, who [...]

Democracy declining in Poland, finds Media Freedom Rapid Response mission

11 February 2021 MFRR Report: Erosion of Media Freedom Gathers Pace in Poland IPI-led report summarises findings of international press freedom mission Media freedom in Poland now faces its greatest [...]

Massive concern over restrictions on Freedom of information

Many media freedom campaigns and campaigners fear the British government is abusing the Freedom of Information (FOI) system, using delaying tactics and prioritising FOI requests from government-friendly journalists and media [...]

Six months of repression since Belarus election – this calls for EU sanctions

Since August 2020, demonstrators and opposition politicians have been contesting the result of the national election that saw Alexander Lukashenko returned to power again. He has been President of Belarus [...]

IJ4EU: Funding cross-border investigative journalism in Europe.

Media Freedom Rapid Response: Supporting and protecting journalists and media workers in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

Support for journalists under threat and in exile in Germany

Latest reports on Mappingmediafreedom.org

#ReportIt: “I had never felt so threatened while doing my work” – reporting on climate protests in Germany

By Katharina Schipkowski In the early morning before sunrise, about two hundred people arrived in a local train at a very small railway station in Rhineland, near Europe’s biggest coalmine,...

#ReportIt: Is Italy more interested in keeping secret pacts with criminals, rather than protecting journalists?

[Leggi la versione italiana qui sotto.] By Nello Scavo The worst enemy of journalists and journalism is not crime, but the state lie. A state that lies when faced...

#ReportIt: We need to learn lessons from attacks at protests in Serbia

by Zoran Kusovac In July 2020 during public disturbances in Belgrade, some reporters were physically attacked by protestors and police, because of their perceived position, in terms of the ownership...

#ReportIt: When attacks force journalists to hide their identity

To many, the move of NOS News came as a surprise. What had happened to the Netherlands, so often perceived to be a nation of few extremes and plenty of tolerance?

#ReportIt: When state funding discredits the press – The Romanian media is facing a financial and moral dilemma

By Dumitrița Holdiș, Project Manager at the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Bucharest, Romania and non-resident fellow at the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University in...

#ReportIt: Mental Health – Protecting the wellbeing of journalists and media workers across Europe

For World Mental Health Day (10th October 2020) ECPMF Helpdesk Manager, Katrin Schatz outlines the steps needed to protect the mental health and emotional wellbeing of journalists and media workers...

#ReportIt: The ever-present threat to democracy of gender-based violence and harassment

By Roberta Knoll, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom In this piece, ‘women’ refers to all people who identify as women. “Watch when you are seen in public”. This...

#ReportIt: Not a “normal procedure” – Police violence against the press in Europe

by Martin Hoffmann, Vice Chair of the European Institute for Journalism and Communication Research (EIJC), Editor with ZDF heute journal and Researcher for ECPMF 113 journalists and media workers in...

Gazeta Wyborcza’s Piotr Stasiński: “They want to bury us under an avalanche of lawsuits”

Interview by Jane Whyatt and Lutz Kinkel The Polish government seeks to control the public discourse. Gazeta Wyborza is a flagship for independent quality journalism – and because of that...

Journalist found guilty of ’justifying terrorism’

Press freedom has been put on trial in the case of a journalist who has escaped a jail term after a massive show of solidarity from journalists and campaigners. ...

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