Media freedom under threat

Independence:Media freedom and independence are not assured and in some European countries are growing weaker, according to a survey by the Association of European Journalists.

The report Goodbye to Freedom?revealed a picture of "a profession and an industry beset by problems of political interference, economic weakness and uneven or doubtful professional standards", according to its editor, former BBC correspondent William Horsley.

The report looks at 20 European countries and points out that "the problems of direct political interference in media affairs and content are more acute in the "new democracies" of central and eastern Europe but western European countries can no longer be confident that they offer a more secure model of media freedom".

Manana Aslamazyan, president of Internews Europe and co-author of the report on the Russian Federation, said journalists and media organisations were pressured through economic means more than directly against their freedom of expression. Organisations had been closed down for not properly complying with fire safety rules or for having incorrect rental agreements. Five journalists are in jail in Russia for "insult" crimes and in the past few years more than 10 journalists had been murdered.

A journalist at the conference from Moldova, not included in the survey, highlighted one case where a TV programme was broadcast in which the country's minister for agriculture was recorded talking about money and gifts he had received.

The minister was forced to resign but the editor in chief of news for the station and all personnel who worked on the programme were fired.

The report is accessible at www.aej.org