Unwarranted interference, fear and self-censorship among journalists in Council of Europe member states

Abstract

Journalists may be exposed to a number of risk factors for unwarranted interference. This is often compounded by a culture of impunity. The extent of unwarranted interference, the experience of fear associated with such interference, and the consequent possibility of self-censorship among journalists still ask for more investigation, since there are few systematic studies on this topic. This research explores the prevalence of unwarranted interference, perception of likelihood/fear of such interference and possible self-censorship amongst a non-probability convenience sample of 940 journalists in the 47 Council of Europe member states. The study adopts a quantitative approach and utilizes an anonymous self-report questionnaire. The preliminary results presented here show how unwarranted interference is experienced to a significant degree among journalists in Council of Europe member states.