Covering 2024, the report assesses press freedom trends across Council of Europe member states, identifying key threats and proposing policy solutions.
The report is written by the partner organisations of the Safety of Journalists Platform. It takes stock of key areas of law, policy and practices affecting media freedom and safety of journalists in Europe and identifies actions required to improve effective protection of journalists.
While press freedom remains under serious threat, collective action, legal reforms, and international cooperation offer a pathway to sustaining independent journalism.
As the Safety of Journalists Platform marks its 10th anniversary in 2025, it plays a vital role in monitoring and defending media freedom across Europe.
As it does every year, Cartooning for Peace has joined forces with the platform by contributing to the report with a rich selection of press cartoons from the network, in order to illustrate its words and highlight this shared fight for press and media freedom.
Kak, President of Cartooning for Peace, also pays tribute to the victims of the attack on the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo, whose 10th anniversary we are commemorating this year.
Launched in 2015, the Safety of Journalists Platform is a collaborative effort between the Council of Europe and a network of 15 prominent press freedom organisations and journalists associations.
Its primary objective is to be a realtime mechanism for monitoring and addressing threats against journalists and media professionals, ranging from harassment and physical attacks to legal and political pressures.
The Platform operates by collecting and verifying alerts on serious threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists.
These alerts, submitted by the Platform’s partner organisations, are published to raise awareness and prompt action from national authorities.
By making these alerts public, the Platform seeks to ensure accountability and encourage member states to fulfill their commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights to protect freedom of expression.
The Council of Europe is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. It has 46 member states, 27 of which are members of the European Union. The Council of Europe has developed a consistent body of standards supporting media freedom as well as a unique Safety of Journalists Platform.
