Jurist Press freedom group calls for strengthening independent public media ahead of EU Media Freedom Act

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published a report on Monday assessing the state of public media across 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. The report warns of future threat scenarios for independent public media broadcasting as the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) is set to fully come into force on August 8.

“Public media must urgently be restored to their rightful place by establishing strong safeguards for their independence and ensuring the long-term stability of their funding,” Thibault Bruttin, Director General of RSF, said, “Creating the public media of tomorrow is a priority — and requires a sharp European awakening.”

The report requests EU member states to bring national legislation in line with EMFA and highlighted its call for media independence. Article 5 states that:

Member States shall ensure that public service media providers are editorially and functionally independent and provide in an impartial manner a plurality of information and opinions to their audiences, in accordance with their public service remit.

The RSF report also called for a number of concrete solutions to a range of crises that public service media broadcasters face. Addressing fiscal and funding concerns, the report called for an investigation into the creation of a tax on digital platforms to fund public media. RSF also encouraged further pan-European international broadcasting initiatives, calling for collaboration among actors including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Radio Free Europe (Radio Liberty) faces attack by the Trump administration’s April executive order that cuts funding and programming to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). USAGM networks include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Network. The RSF report criticizes the US government’s stance on public media, writing:

US President Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle his country’s international broadcasting service echoes the offensive being waged by certain political forces against public radio and television broadcasters across Europe. The takeover, defunding, and closure of these media outlets are increasingly common components of the political programs of those inspired by Trump’s policies.

On Friday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), a group of public service media broadcasters, had submitted its own feedback urging compliance with the EMFA. The EBU insisted on the importance of strict adherence to EMFA’s Article 18. Article 18 requires very large online platforms (VLOPs) to adhere to new procedural safeguards when removing or restricting the visibility of media content. Platforms will be required to submit self-declarations attesting to their compliance with a number of criteria, including adherence to editorial standards and regulatory oversight.

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