The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today began a press freedom mission to Budapest to assess media freedom in Hungary following legislative changes in recent years.
The mission, in which IPI and SEEMO are set to meet with Hungarian journalists and members of civil society, will examine the state of media freedom in the wake of controversial changes to media law, the ongoing global economic crisis and expected changes to Hungarian law on access to information.
It follows up on three previous missions IPI and SEEMO have conducted in the country in recent years, including joint IPI/SEEMO missions in December 2010 and July 2011, and an international partnership mission in November 2011 bringing together leading press freedom and media development organizations.
IPI and SEEMO plan to issue a report detailing findings and recommendations following the mission.