EU Parliament Votes To Boost Media Independence In Member States

The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution after a 577-47 vote, with 76 abstentions, to establish a permanent common fund and take other measures aimed at safeguarding the independence of journalism in member states

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution after a 577-47 vote, with 76 abstentions, to establish a permanent common fund and take other measures aimed at safeguarding the independence of journalism in member states.

The document was prompted by concerns about the limited freedom of journalism in some member states and the need of EU media to transform for the "Digital Decade."

"In order to safeguard the financial and political independence of European journalists and journalism, Parliament wants a permanent EU news media fund and stresses that EU recovery funds earmarked for the media must support media organisations in those EU countries where media face particular financial and political pressure or rule-of-law concerns," the statement said.

EU lawmakers also highlighted the threat that global internet platforms hold for European media services and pushed for the urgent adoption of the Digital Services and Digital Markets acts, which guarantee equal opportunities for all market players, essentially curbing the market dominance of giants like Facebook and Google.

During the pandemic, revenues from advertising in news media fell by 20%, according to EU Parliament estimates. Losses in the audiovisual sector in 2020 amounted to 4 billion Euros ($4.65 billion) amid the growth of production costs caused by strict sanitary measures.