Independent Russian television channel Sovershenno Sekretno (“Top Secret”) TV said it is facing closure after a state-owned broadcaster indicated that it would terminate a contract to carry the channel’s signal next March, some 20 months early. The 24-hour channel – which was launched six years ago and reaches 15 million people in Russia, the CIS, […]

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), today noted an increased number of attacks against sports journalists in Greece following two incidents in the last week. On Oct. 4, two individuals physically attacked Antonis Kalkabouras, a reporter with Mega TV, after a game between the Panathinaikos […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern over proposed amendments to Italy’s defamation law, the latest of which includes imprisonment as a possible penalty for criminal libel. Parliament has been considering changes to Italian defamation law since Italy’s highest tribunal last month upheld Il Giornale editor Alessandro Sallusti’s conviction and 14-month prison sentence for […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) joined nearly thirty organisations in writing to Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, to ask that his government prioritise human rights reforms, particularly with respect to press freedom and journalism. Over the last year, five journalists were detained and later sentenced to years in prison for “terrorism”, while several others […]