trends: numerous criminal acts against journalists including murders; legal harassment and smear campaigns; threats to women journalists; and media capture, among others. Moreover, at the end of November 2023, 68 journalists and media professionals were detained in Europe.

7. The Assembly expresses its strong concern over these multiple attacks to media freedom and the too many cases of impunity, especially in relation to murders of journalists, some of which remain unresolved for more than a decade. It insists on the duty of State authorities to investigate each and every crime against journalists, and bring to justice the instigators, perpetrators and accomplices.

8. There is a pressing need to enforce the high standards on media freedom which the Council of Europe has established, to ensure effective protection of journalists and to uphold in all member States a friendly and safe environment for media independence and pluralism. All political forces should work together in promoting a change of culture in dealing with this issue: media freedom is a public good, a key asset of incommensurable value for both majority parties and opposition ones.

9. The Assembly warmly welcomes the recognition by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, who met during the 4th Summit in Reykjavík on 16-17 May 2023, of the “Council of Europe’s prominent role in international standard-setting on freedom of expression and related issues such as media freedom”, and their commitment to “continue [their] collective efforts for the safety of journalists and other media actors”. The Assembly also commends the launch, on 5 October 2023 in Riga, of the Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists, which provides the momentum for acting more effectively all together.

10. Therefore, the Assembly calls on member States to fully endorse and take an active part in this campaign. Within this framework, member States should:

10.1. develop holistic national strategies and coherent action plans, also based on Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors, ensure the involvement of national parliaments in their design and follow-up, and allocate adequate resources for their implementation;

10.2. review legislation which can be abused or misused to unduly restrict media freedom, threaten journalists and seek to silence them; in this respect, decriminalisation of defamation and the introduction of adequate countermeasures to strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) – including those foreseen in Resolution 2531 (2024) “Countering SLAPPs: an imperative for a democratic society” – are key steps to be taken urgently;

10.3. analyse the political, legal and economic conditions which lead to media capture, and take adequate measures to counter this phenomenon and safeguard independent media;

10.4. improve the legislative and regulatory framework against any political interference and undue concentration of media ownership; this requires, in particular, enhanced rules on transparency of formal and beneficial media ownership and control, in line with the requirements set forth by Recommendation CM/Rec(2018) of the Committee of Ministers to member States on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership and Assembly Resolution 2065 (2015) “Increasing transparency of media ownership”;

10.5. support genuine public service media, securing their viability and editorial independence, according to the basic standards set by the “Guiding principles for public service media governance” appended to Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on public service media governance, and the Assembly Resolution 2179 (2017) “Political influence over independent media and journalists”;

10.6. ensure that financing schemes for private media outlets are based on fair and objective criteria and operated in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner; public support schemes for private media should be intended to reinforce pluralism and ensure access to quality information in all regions of Europe, also paying attention to non-commercial media outlets and media which are the expression of local perspectives, or of cultural diversity;

10.7. monitor the execution of the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights on Article 10 of the Convention, to ensure their full and timely implementation by the concerned authorities;

10.8. establish early warning and rapid response mechanisms, based on good practice, to deal effectively with serious alerts seeking to avoid threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists, or at least to remedy them rapidly; to this aim, reinforce dialogue and co-operation between media professionals, the police and the judiciary;

10.9. strengthen the operational capacity of the police and judiciary to investigate and effectively prosecute the perpetrators and instigators of unlawful acts against journalists;

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