This webinar will address both physical and digital threats and attacks on journalists and media workers and the deteriorating working conditions of journalists while identifying opportunities to help reverse these trends. In some cases, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges and the parallel ‘infodemic’, or rapid spread of disinformation, underscores the key role of free media systems in democratic societies, and the risks to media pluralism that are associated with a state of emergency and restrictions to freedom of expression. The webinar is aimed at promoting media development and freedom of expression in line with international human rights standards and OSCE principles and commitments.

The event will consist of a high-level opening session and two panels, one on safety of journalists and media workers and one on independence of journalism, with a regional focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. The latter topic, in particular, would seek to look at the effects of COVID-19 on journalistic independence.

The webinar will contribute to work of the Media Freedom Coalition, a partnership of currently 37 countries working together proactively to advocate for media freedom, online as well as offline, and for the safety of journalists and media workers. The Media Freedom Coalition aims to hold to account those who harm journalists or severely restrict them from doing their job, as well as support the work and initiatives of the Global Campaign for Media Freedom.

A report on the outcomes of the webinar will be fed into the second Global Conference on Media Freedom. This virtual meeting will be co-hosted by Canada and Botswana on November 16, 2020. The first Global Conference on Media Freedom took place in London in 2019, jointly hosted by the United Kingdom and Canada.