A powerful voice calling for greater media freedom
The activities of various media freedom initiatives will be coordinated at the newly-established European Centre for Press und Media Freedom.
The first article of the European Charter on Freedom of the Press, signed in 2009 by 48 editors-in-chief and leading journalists from 19 countries, states that “Freedom of the press is essential to a democratic society”. Nonetheless, the freedom of the media in Europe is subject to frequent attacks. A European centre has now been established in Leipzig to critically examine and document freedom of the press in Europe. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom will bring together and coordinate up to 50 Europe-wide journalist associations and initiatives.
In future, six members of the Leipzig Centre’s staff will document violations of press freedom in Europe. “Rather like the EU, our objective is to act as a media union for Europe, demanding the same standards of press freedom all over the continent”, explained Hans-Ulrich Jörges, member of the chief editorial department at Stern magazine and one of the Centre’s initiators. The Centre is funded by the European Commission and the German Federal Foreign Office, amongst others.
