William Horsley is CFOM’s International Director. He has a leading role to promote CFOM’s global mission to strengthen international protections for free and independent media and freedom of expression through research and analysis, advocacy, topical public events and seminars and policy advice to governments and media. He also engages with inter-governmental organisations, such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
His International Director’s Column focuses on issues of media freedom across the world alongside providing a snapshot of the advocacy work that William does. You can find his pieces below.
Charlie Hebdo murders mean journalism just got more dangerous
President Hollande of France called them "heroes" because they championed freedom. Fellow journalists and great crowds of citizens across Europe came out to pay tribute to the Charlie Hebdo journalists whose work cost them their lives. It has been an impressive first...
UN marks ‘deadliest decade’ for journalist deaths
This week the world has turned a spotlight on journalists. Not for the stories they break every day, but for the rising death toll among those who risk their lives to get the story out. The United Nations says more than 700 journalists have died in the past 10 years...
Europe must confront Russia’s propaganda machine
Ukraine conflict shows Europe’s weakness for Moscow’s propaganda The Kremlin’s use of disinformation has been laid bare after the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane on 17 July. Europeans must confront the grotesque propaganda machine on which...
Europe must confront Russia’s propaganda machine
Ukraine conflict shows Europe’s weakness for Moscow’s propaganda The Kremlin’s use of disinformation has been laid bare after the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane on 17 July. Europeans must confront the grotesque propaganda machine on which...
Pakistani journalist murder attempt flags a wider struggle for press freedom
The near-fatal shooting last weekend of Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s best-known TV anchormen, looks like becoming a symbol of a wider challenge to the survival of free journalism - not just in Pakistan but in a growing number of countries where journalists are...