Newsletter
Gross violation of press freedom in Bulgaria | #FreeMediaRace
Just now our campaign manager in Bulgaria, Rosen Dimov, told me, quote, “above all this European Citizens Initiative is about building a transnational civil society”, and I honestly couldn’t agree more. Our challenge, one that all Citizen’s Initiatives face, is to tackle the collective action problem: Although most citizens agree that press freedom is a crucial human right, how do we convince each individual to sign and stand up to protect this right for all? A true civil society — and accompanying solidarity — is often already difficult within one state, and we are asking for cross-border solidarity, we call upon the European Civil Society!
And this Monday we actually made that happen (a little). As an immediate reaction to what could amount to a gross violation of press freedom in Bulgaria, citizens in Sofia, London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Rome demonstrated in what amounted to an Europe-wide solidarity action!
What happened and why you can read below, here I want to stress that Bulgaria needs our help! The proposed amendments to the election law that ignited our demonstrations would lead to such a blatant violation of press freedom that one can barely believe they were proposed in an EU member state. Signing this initiative is one way to show that you care, and that you are a part of the transnational civil society that we are calling upon! We also ask you to share this news widely, so that these violations do not remain unnoticed amongst your friends and social network.
Below, we also introduce you (anew) to the #FreeMediaRace, an online tool that we created that allows you to ‘own’ the signatures you collect. The #FreeMediaRace gives every individual and organisation the chance to mobilise in support of media diversity and press freedom in Europe. The winners of the race wil be invited to Brussels, introduced to members of the EU-parliament, and given the chance to explain why they believe that press freedom and freedom of speech are liberties worth protecting!
Enjoy the reading, have a nice weekend, and when you haven’t done so already: SIGN this initiative!
On behalf of all campaigners and volunteers,
Hilde van Meegdenburg
SIGN
European Solidarity to Stop Infringements in Bulgarian Press Freedom
For years Bulgaria has ranked lowest amongst European countries on press freedom indices, and a recent government proposal could mean a turn for the worse. In Sofia, and four other European cities people have demonstrated against the recently proposed amendment to the election law and other limitations to press freedom in Bulgaria.
Last Friday, July 18, three members of parliament from the government-backing ‘Coalition for Bulgaria’ (the Bulgarian socialists) proposed amendments to the election law that would severely limit press freedom in Bulgara. Martin Zahariev (former publisher), Maya Manolova (deputy spokesperson of the parliament), and Stefan Danailov (former minister of culture) proposed changes that would restrain journalist during election campaigns, the most critical time of the democratic process, to only use and publish information offered by the press offices of political parties. Read more….
#FreeMediaRace
In support of the European Citizens Initiative for Media Pluralism we started the #FreeMediaRace, a race that gives individuals and organisations the chance to become the greatest protector of press freedom in Europe!
The #FreeMediaRace gives everybody and every organisation the chance to mobilise in support of media diversity and press freedom in Europe. The winners of the race will be invited to Brussels, introduced to members of the European Parliament, and given the chance to explain why they believe that press freedom and our freedom of speech are liberties worth protecting! Find out more.
