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.
Five reasons why President Trump’s ‘war with the media’ really matters
Donald Trump’s pugnacious defence of his under-fire Attorney-General, Jess Sessions, is part of a wider pattern of disregard for truth in which he sees the news media as his main enemy. It is the latest twist in Mr Trump’s evasion of scrutiny about the core matter on...
Are British media failing the test of reporting Brexit?
The British media have been accused, along with the politicians, of doing a poor job of informing the nation about the great issues thrown up by Brexit, the biggest story for a generation. Is the criticism justified? A review of the course of the great debate over the...
Sir Alan Moses condemns ‘freezing’ impact of Section 40 on UK press freedom
On Monday Sir Alan Moses, the former Appeals Court judge who chairs the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), publicly applauded the ‘implacable opposition ‘ of the British press to the controversial Section 40 of the 2013 Crime and Courts Act, which...
In Poland, Media Freedom Fears Persist as New Plans Restricting Journalists’ Access to Parliament to be Unveiled in January
In many parts of Europe the freedom of the media is under serious threat not only from restrictive laws but also from a wide range of administrative and informal constraints and pressures. In Poland the government has already enacted a law to take direct control of...
CFOM lecture and debate 2016
CFOM Lecture by Guy Berger, UNESCO Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development. Below is an overview of the CFOM annual lecture written by our International Director William Horsley. Lecture and debate: ‘Your right to know relies on justice for...