In episode four of the CFOM podcast we mark World Press Freedom Day by discussing the threats to media freedom across Europe. World Press Freedom Day was established 31 years ago and is held every year on 3 May to shine a spotlight on the challenges journalists face and the importance of a free press in society.   

For this episode, we collaborated with the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) , a group of media and advocacy experts drawing attention to the decline of media freedom in Southeast Europe. We spoke to board members Peter Horrocks CBE, former director of BBC World Service, and Antoinette Nikolova about their work.

In December 2023, BFMI published their report entitled Defunding Disinformation in the Balkans.

Peter and Antoinette told us how major European brands are funding and legitimising media outlets that disseminate disinformation in the Balkans. They also spoke about the impact disinformation has on public trust in journalism and what this might mean in a big election year, alongside how we can tackle disinformation.

Find out more about the work of the BFMI here: https://www.balkanfreemedia.org/