The European Media Freedom Act passed by the European Parliament is designed to protect the editorial independence and journalistic sources across the European Union. States will also have to spend publicity expenditure using public, proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria.
The UK has announced up to £600,000 for a new secretariat to help advance the work of the Media Freedom Coalition – a partnership of 50 countries working together to advocate for media freedom and safety of journalists and hold to account those who harm journalists for doing their job. The Coalition’s purpose is to defend media freedom where it is under threat.
Another prominent figure has quit working for, or with, the British Government over their decision to break international law over the Brexit deal to leave the EU. On Wednesday the Government’s top law officer for Scotland resigned amid reports he was unhappy about plans to override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has been appointed as the UK's government's special envoy on media freedom, the Foreign Office has announced. Ms Clooney and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will work to counter draconian laws that hinder journalists from going about their work, the FCO said.
Four former Serbian spies have been jailed for the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija in 1999. A Belgrade court jailed two of the defendants for 30 years each, while two others received 20-year sentences. Curuvija, an outspoken critic of the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, was gunned down outside his apartment.
The terror attack that killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday will have come as little surprise to Europe's police and intelligence services. For months, they've regarded the prospect of a mass killing in Europe by isolated gunmen or small groups of Islamist terrorists as a question of when rather than if.