30/04/2010 Culture, Science, Education and Media
Strasbourg, 30.04.2010 - “International Press Freedom Day reminds us that journalists and the media are a vital cornerstone of democracy,” Andrew McIntosh, the standing rapporteur on media freedom of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), said today.
“It is therefore an alarming sign that at least 20 journalists have been killed in Europe since 2007, several of whom had worked on shedding light on corruption and organised crime,” he added.
“As the Parliamentary Assembly stated in its Recommendation 1897 (2010), Europe must do more to ensure that freedom of expression and information in the media are fully respected in accordance with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is not enough to have the European Court of Human Rights judge past violations of media freedom. We must seek to prevent violations."
"This requires new approaches to reporting such violations and ensuring adequate political evaluation at European and national levels. I invite member states, media and journalists’ organisations to join the Assembly in this common effort,” Mr McIntosh concluded.