"With this Policy Manual, we provide guidance for building an information space free from oligopolistic control, resilient to manipulation, and supportive of independent, pluralistic media. This Policy Manual proposes both structural reforms and targeted mitigation measures – focusing on media vis
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ibility, viability, and vigilance. If journalists cannot report safely, if their work is rendered invisible or economically unsustainable, neither the integrity of the public discourse nor media freedom can be protected. Cautious and principled State engagement is needed to ensure that information – as well as the information space – is not captured, neither by private businesses, including platforms and AI giants, nor by the governments of the day. This is a necessary precondition to ensure the media can fulfil its democratic role.
Recognizing the diversity of legal systems and societal contexts across the OSCE, this Policy Manual does not prescribe a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. Instead, it offers principled and adaptable guidance, grounded in international human rights standards and OSCE commitments, to support States in designing frameworks that safeguard media pluralism, independence, and public interest over distortion, deception, and division. It aspires to be both a tool and a call to action. It urges States to move from reactive ‘fixes’ towards a proactive, rights-based vision for the future of our information ecosystem – one that restores pluralism and accountability." (Foreword, page 7)
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"In this study, we explore the challenges and strategies of independent media outlets in contexts of shrinking civic space. To this end, we present five case studies on a specific media outlets. These describe the overall political context for the media, the specific challenges that the respective m
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edia outlet has faced, as well as the different strategies that they have used to meet these challenges. The overall problem is situated within a set of concepts introduced in the first chapter, while the conclusions chapter brings together the lessons which can be learned from the case studies in one framework. The five case studies each have a distinct focus, namely: the efforts of Átlátszo in Hungary to reach groups in society who are currently not exposed to independent media content; the lessons KRIK in Serbia learned on how to anticipate and counter attempts by powerholders to repress their story, including through cross-border collaboration; the thin line between activism and journalism that Liber in Teleorman in Romania threaded, while investigating power abuse by national politicians at the local level; the focus on professional standards and community engagement by Oštro, in their attempt to build credibility towards an audience used to partisan media; the position of Átlátszo Erdély, a Hungarian-language media outlet in Romania stuck between pressures from multiple sides, who as a city-based media outlet managed to embed themselves in a rural audience." (Executive summary)
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