“The survival of professional media – the fourth column of democracy – plays a vital role in preserving democracy and security,” notes the Media Freedom Forum, quoting Maria Ordzhonikidze, Director of the Justice for Journalists Foundation.
She opened the UK Media Freedom Forum 2025 on March 4 which organisers – the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), the Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) – hope will provide a vehicle for journalists, policy makers, academics, and civil society organisations to develop concrete policy recommendations for the UK government and other national stakeholders, with the aim of creating greater transparency and accountability on media freedom related issues.
In its summary of the meetings and panel discussions at City St George’s, University of London, the Forum said: “Journalism is facing many threats: a lack of fact-checking and regulation means social media has allowed disinformation to run rife, media workers are put at physical risk when trying to report in war zones like in Gaza and Ukraine, and legal threats (SLAPPs) discredit journalists and impede them from reporting on public interest topics. Recent, significant cuts to the USAID budget have also reduced the funding available to international media.”
It also noted that in March, U.S. President Trump “falsely claimed that Ukraine had started the war against Russia. The following day, ‘who started the war’ was the top Google search in the US.”
Ukrainian journalist Olga Rudenko, who was named in 2022 one of Time magazine’s next leaders for building the news startup The Kyiv Independent into an international media organisation, said:
“Solid fact has just cracked. Confusion protects leaders from scrutiny and accountability. In this war on truth, it just so happens that Ukraine is a key battle ground. This assault on facts affects all of us and is being led by some of the most powerful people in the world. Each and every one of us have to come together and respond today before it’s too late.”
The two day media freedom forum with multiple expert guests on March 4 and 5 explored many impacts on media freedom around the world, including strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) and other legal threats, transnational repression, misinformation and disinformation, journalism in exile, economic pressure, spyware and surveillance, and the impact of artificial intelligence.
Mel Bunce, professor of international journalism and politics, at City St Georges, University of London, offered his highlights summary here.
During the forum meetings, AEJ UK chair William Horsley helped launch the 2025 Annual Report of the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists at a panel session on March 5 on how European states are responding to the most pressing media threats today.
Media Freedom Forum report on inaugural meeting
UK Media Freedom Forum
Europe Press Freedom Report for 2024
