The AEJ’s 2012 Congress gathered the widest ever selection of journalists from east and west Europe. Journalists from twenty countries exchanged views with Jan Malinowski, a senior official of the Council of Europe, in a quest for more effective support for press freedom and the safety of journalists’ work, in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ten detailed Media Freedom Reports focusing on current cases of intimidation and other forms of interference with press freedom were presented by AEJ members from Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. They formed the basis for an intensive discussion with Jan Malinowski, Director of the Media and Information Society Division of the Council of Europe.
The AEJ looks forward to enhanced Council of Europe efforts to safeguard press freedom and to counter the growing physical risks to journalists working in many parts of Europe, in line with the recent pledges by Ministers of the 47 Council of Europe member states. The AEJ is to participate in the next scheduled meeting of the Council of Europe’s inter-governmental Media Steering Committee on 27-30 November, where the agenda will include a discussion of new measures to give more “impact and visibility” to the Council of Europe’s activities to uphold media freedom in the face of growing barriers and threats.