The Commonwealth has a credibility problem. For many years Commonwealth heads of government and senior officials have made public commitments—like those proclaimed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting summit at Coolum in Australia in 2002—to ‘democracy, the...
On 26 September the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted Resolution A/HRC/33/L.6 on the safety of journalists by consensus – that is, with no objections and no vote. It’s the latest of 8 resolutions adopted by UN bodies in the past four year alone related to the...
Journalists everywhere need to wake up to the new normal: states all around the world are using anti-terrorism, state security and other laws to constrain, harass or lock up questioning journalists. They need to up their game in response. That message has been voiced...
This year’s commemorations of World Press Freedom Day from May 2-4 in Helsinki attracted a record 1,100 press freedom activists, journalists, international officials and others. The event was practical and focused on seeking solutions to urgent threats and problems,...
Joining our three members who will are a part of the World Press freedom Day Research Conference, William Horsley, our International Director, will be speaking at the main conference. "At the World Press Freedom Day international conference I will take part in...
British newspapers and press freedom campaigners heaved a sigh of relief after a government-appointed commission stepped back from proposals to impose charges for disclosure requests, and on 1 March Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock announced “We will not make any...
How can the Commonwealth confront the repression – and in some cases forceful oppression - of independent and critical journalists in some of its member states? This week Patricia Scotland, a Labour life peer and former Attorney-General, starts work as Commonwealth...
The big guns of the world’s media have found themselves at fault. At UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on 5 February, 200 senior media managers, editors and journalists from around the world, whose everyday job is to hold others to account, publicly examined their own...