New initiative will promote safety of media personnel

The Council of Europe (CoE) has launched an initiative designed to promote the safety of journalists and other media personnel and the protection of media freedom.

The CoE’s online Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists is hosted on the Council’s website at www.coe.int/en/web/media-freedom.

It will record violations of journalists’ rights with a view to promoting their safety. And it will help compile information on physical threats, harassment and intimidation of media personnel.

The CoE, which has 47 member states (including the 28 members of the European Union), says the platform will foster “early warning” mechanisms that enable CoE bodies and institutions to be alerted on time, and in a more systematic way, to threats and violence against media professionals.

This in turn will enable those institutions to “take timely and coordinated action where necessary”.

The launch follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration on the platform between the CoE and five partner organisations concerned with the defence of press freedom.

Under the terms of the MoU, partner organisations will submit alerts on all types of violations of journalists’ rights to the platform to bring them to the attention of member states and institutions.