MOSCOW, November 27 (Sputnik) — The worsening situation with journalists' safety and the rise of propaganda are among the major threats the free media are currently facing, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic said Thursday.
"Across the OSCE region, the media faces challenges on many fronts. The uncontrolled proliferation of propaganda has once again reared its head," Mijatovic said when presenting the latest semi-annual report on media freedom developments in the OSCE region.
"Journalists' safety remain one of the biggest threats to free media in the OSCE region and real efforts, from all sides, must be made to stop the attacks on journalists that now occur on a daily basis," she added.
In her speech Mijatovic reiterated the call she made at the European Federation of Journalists meeting in Moscow last week, asking the journalists' professional organizations and self-regulatory bodies to re-examine the current state of journalism. Mijatovic also called upon journalists' organizations and media owners and publishers to "take a serious look at the content they are producing."
The new OSCE report covers the period from June 19 to November 26, 2014 and pays special attention to the situation in south-eastern Ukraine. As Mijatovic said in her speech, since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict 7 journalists were killed, at least 170 were attacked, some 30 editorial offices and television stations have been vandalized, about 80 journalists have been abducted and detained and at least two remain captive.
