MFRR in Focus: Reforming Croatia’s controversial draft media law

In Croatia, a new draft media law brought forward by the
government which critics say would weaken media freedoms has
sparked intense debate, international attention and demands for
urgent reform.


If adopted in its current form, there are fears it would roll
back journalistic freedoms, limit critical reporting, jeopardize
journalistic source protection, and could allow for greater
politicization of media regulation and funding.


The appearance of the controversial draft law surprised even the
working group that had been established specifically to help
develop such a piece of legislation, causing uproar and criticism
from international media freedom groups.


This episode of the MFRR In Focus, we speak with Maja Sever, a
respected Croatian journalist and the President of the European
Federation of Journalists (EFJ), to take a deep dive into the
draft law, to assess its most problematic elements and discuss
what needs to change if it is to meet international standards and
represent a boost for media freedom, rather than an unnecessary
burden.


Guests: Maja Sever, Croatian journalist and President of the
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).


Producer and Host: Dumitrița Holdiș, Central and Eastern Europe
Media Support Coordinator.


Editor: Dumitrița Holdiș, Central and Eastern Europe Media
Support Coordinator, with support from Javier Luque Martinez,
Head of Digital Communications at IPI.


Additional Reading:


Croatia: Bill on Media is intolerable and must be fought (IFJ)


Croatia’s Proposed Media Law Condemned as ‘Death for Journalism’
(Balkan Insight)