IPI was one of the partners in the “(R)Evolution of Europe’s Press conference which took place on July 1, 2016 in Wroclaw, Poland, the 2016 European Capital of Culture. The conference brought together top press freedom advocates across Europe to discuss the political, economic and technological challenges the European press is facing today. The one-day conference was divided into two interactive sessions, where participants, speakers and commentators gathered together in small groups to discuss the state of press freedom in Europe from their unique perspectives and to develop jointly ideas on how to combat some of the bigger challenges.

The event was followed by a reception hosted by the City of Wroclaw, as well as a public screening of the film “The Panama Papers” and a debate with leading press freedom advocates on investigative journalism.

While identifying the threats to press freedom was the first step, participants and speakers at this event also spent time during the workshop sessions trying to brainstorm solutions to these big-picture problems.

IPI Executive Board Member Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief of Slovakia’s SME, served as a commentator for this first session on “Changing political priorities in Europe and its impact on press freedom”.

Balogová, identified existing defamation laws and their (mis)use as one of the major threats to press freedom, particularly in central and Eastern Europe. “In many countries…the judiciary is interpreting the existing laws in a way which favors those in power,” said Balogová as she shared the results of the workshop discussion she hosted. “So one of the recommendations we came up with at the table is that there is an urgent need to rephrase or revising some of the defamation laws and privacy laws.”

(R)evolution of Europe's Press

  • Date: July 1, 2016
  • Summary of the conference, video interviews and other materials will be added to the event website www.revolutionpress.eu
  • Contact person: Max von Abendroth, Executive Director, EMMA; max(dot)abendroth(at)magazinemedia(dot)eu; +32 2 536 06 04

The conversations started last week will continue, as the Future Media Lab. will be organizing a Future Media Lounge session in the European Parliament as a follow-up to this event in September.

The conference was hosted by the Mayor of Wroclaw, Rafal Dutkiewicz, and was organized in cooperation with Wroclaw 2016: the European Capital of Culture.

Further information about the conference can be found on the conference website.