• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

U.S. journalists fear erosion of their press freedoms. But this concern is not unique to the U.S. — European reporters also face an existential threat, judging by a report from the Civil Liberties Union for Europe. 

One problem is that media outlets are in relatively few hands. “Media ownership concentration is high in Croatia, France, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden,” the study states. “In most cases, large segments of the media sector are controlled by wealthy individuals or families, often through other companies. 

Then there are challenges to the independence of the public service media (PSM) sectors—these exist in Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. “In Hungary, PSM remained a fully captured propaganda system for the government in 2024,” the report states. “In the Czech Republic and Ireland, continued uncertainty about PSM’s future funding weighs heavily on journalists’ work.” 

On the positive side, the European Union enacted two new laws to protect journalists last year: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA)1 and the Anti-SLAPP Directive.

Scheduled to take effect in August, the EMFA was created to “improve and better protect media freedom and pluralism by addressing several long-standing threats, including protection of journalists, lack of transparency over media ownership and state advertising, and the crumbling independence of public service media and national media regulatory bodies.”

Unfortunately, while “some Member States had made efforts to prepare for this binding legislation by the close of 2024, many others had not—and, in the worst cases, appeared to flout it.” 

Of course, the worst threat facing journalists is violence. Last year, they suffered hate speech, physical attacks and police violence in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Spain, with female journalists being particularly targeted in some countries, according to The Guardian, which first reported this story. 

Don’t think that European publishers are oblivious to what is going on in the United States. 

“New threats to Europe’s media ecosystem come from across the Atlantic,” the report adds. “The funding cuts of President Trump’s administration are already being felt in Europe, posing an existential threat to small and independent media outlets. Now it is of utmost importance that the EU steps up.”

The lines have been drawn.