A podcast from The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM), an interdisciplinary research centre with global outreach on issues of media freedom, independence and plurality, hosted in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Sheffield.
CFOM aims to inform and advise governments, policy-makers and stakeholders internationally on countering threats to media freedom, and to bring about positive changes to laws, policy and practice and raise standards of journalism safety worldwide.
For more information visit cfom.org.uk
Episode 10: Blackouts and Bylines: Media Freedom on the Frontline
In this episode of the CFOM podcast, we talk to the editor of the Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin. The Kashmir Times is the oldest English daily in Jammu and Kashmir. We talk about the threats that journalists in Kashmir are facing alongside how Anuradha keeps the Kashmir Times running after being subjected to police raids. Anuradha also talks to us about how she petitioned the top court in India following an internet shut down. In this episode of the podcast, she tells us how journalism might be on a ventilator, but she is not going to write its obituary just yet.
Hosted by Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
8 Dec 2025
Episode 9: CFOM at Voices - European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy
Episode 9 of the CFOM podcast is the final of three episodes recorded at Voices - The European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy (https://voicesfestival.eu/).
The festival, held this year in Zagreb, Croatia in February, is organised by a range of organisations engaged in media freedom and literacy and developments in journalism, including the EBU, The European Federation of Journalists and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom. It aims to “celebrate the pivotal roles journalism and the informed public play in societies while fostering critical thinking around disinformation”.
Presenter Dr Gemma Horton spoke to Maja Šimunjak, Associate Professor in Journalism, Middlesex University and Javier Luque Martínez Digital Media Coordinator at the International Press Institute (IPI) about online harassment and smear campaigns against journalists alongside the importance of newsroom support and resilience training.
You can contact CFOM on cfom@sheffield.ac.uk or on X at @CFOMsheff (https://twitter.com/cfomsheff)
Presented by Dr Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
28 Nov 2025
Episode 8: CFOM at Voices - European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy
Episode 7 of the CFOM podcast is the second of three episodes recorded at Voices - The European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy (https://voicesfestival.eu/).
The festival, held this year in Zagreb, Croatia in February, is organised by a range of organisations engaged in media freedom and literacy and developments in journalism, including the EBU, The European Federation of Journalists and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom. It aims to “celebrate the pivotal roles journalism and the informed public play in societies while fostering critical thinking around disinformation”.
Presenter Dr Gemma Horton spoke to Belén López Garrido, Editorial Manager at the European Broadcasting Union and Iva Nenadić, Scientific Coordinator of the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom at the European University Institute, about the role of big tech and AI in journalism alongside the threats and opportunities it presents.
You can contact CFOM on cfom@sheffield.ac.uk or on X at @CFOMsheff (https://twitter.com/cfomsheff)
Presented by Dr Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
31 Oct 2025
Episode 7: CFOM at Media Freedom Rapid Response Summit
Episode 7 of the CFOM podcast was recorded to mark the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) Summit.
The summit, held this year in Brussels, Belgium, in October, is organised by the MFRR, a consortium of organisations engaged in media freedom work. The Europe-wide mechanism tracks, monitors and reacts to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The MFRR provides legal support, public advocacy and information to protect journalists and media workers.
Presenter Dr Gemma Horton spoke to some of the speakers and organisers to get their views on the state of journalistic freedom. In particular, we highlight the threats that media freedom is under across Europe, highlighting Georgia as a specific example were independent reporting is being shut down:
Elena Rodina: a press freedom expert specialising in journalistic resistance, cross-border collaboration, and exiled media. She coordinates the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium at the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Renate Schroeder: Director of the European Federation of Journalists
Lia Chakhunashvili: Executive Director of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics
Irma Dimitradze: Communications Manager and journalist at Gazeti Batumelebi LLC, an independent Georgian media organization that operates batumelebi.ge and netgazeti.ge.
You can contact CFOM on cfom@sheffield.ac.uk or on X at @CFOMsheff (https://twitter.com/cfomsheff)
Presented by Dr Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
29 Jul 2025
Episode 6: CFOM at Voices - European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy
Episode 6 of the CFOM podcast is the first of three episodes recorded at Voices - The European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy (https://voicesfestival.eu/).
The festival, held this year in Zagreb, Croatia in February, is organised by a range of organisations engaged in media freedom and literacy and developments in journalism, including the EBU, The European Federation of Journalists and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom. It aims to “celebrate the pivotal roles journalism and the informed public play in societies while fostering critical thinking around disinformation”.
Presenter Dr Gemma Horton spoke to several of the speakers and attendees to get their views on the state of journalistic freedom:
Samrita Menon, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samrita-menon-302711118/?originalSubdomain=fr) Associate Programme Specialist in the Media and Information Literacy Unit at UNESCO, on techniques to increase public trust in journalism and what journalists can learn from influencers and vice versa.
Divina Frau-Meigs, (https://divina-frau-meigs.fr/) professor of media and information and communications technology sociology at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, France, on the attacks the media are facing around the world which is undermining trust in journalism.
Clothilde Le Coz works for French NGO Journalisme & Citoyenneté (https://journalisme.com/en/), part of the consortium behind the festival. She spoke about the work she does to help journalists connect with the general public, and how journalists can make their work even more useful for audiences.
Damian Tambini (https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/academic-staff/damian-tambini), Distinguished Policy Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, questions whether a decline in trust is necessarily a bad thing for journalism, and whether the industry should be more open to critique and regulation.
You can contact CFOM on cfom@sheffield.ac.uk or on X at @CFOMsheff (https://twitter.com/cfomsheff)
Presented by Dr Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
1 Oct 2024
Episode 5: SLAPPS - the "chilling" law suits activists say are restricting journalism and limiting freedom of speech
In episode 5 of the Centre for Freedom of the Media podcast, presented by Dr Gemma Horton, we're taking a deep dive into Slapps - strategic lawsuits against public participation.
There's been a lot of attention on these legal cases in recent years, and activists in the world of media and press freedom say they are having a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
Slapps are costly lawsuits brought by wealthy individuals or organisations - or by governments - to stop journalists from investigating stories of corruption or other wrongdoing. The idea is they intimidate journalists or impede their work to such an extent and with such heavy legal costs, that they halt their reporting.
They are used in several countries but the UK's defamation laws mean it is particularly appealing to file a case here, and activists want the new government to take urgent steps to address them.
We talk to three Slapps experts working in the UK and abroad:
Fiona O’Brien - UK director of Reporters Without Borders (https://rsf.org/en)
Susan Coughtrie, director of the Foreign Policy Centre think tank and co-chair of the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition (https://antislapp.uk/)
Peter Coe - Associate Professor in Law at the University of Birmingham and a member of the Council of Europe's Expert Committee on Slapps (https://www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/msi-slp)
This is a podcast from The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) (https://cfom.org.uk/), an interdisciplinary research centre hosted in the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield CFOM aims to inform and advise governments, policymakers and stakeholders internationally on threats to media freedom, in order to bring about positive changes to laws, policy and practice and to uphold standards of journalism safety.
You can contact CFOM on cfom@sheffield.ac.uk (mailto:cfom@sheffield.ac.uk) or on X at @CFOMsheff (https://twitter.com/cfomsheff)
Presented by Dr Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
3 May 2024
Episode Four: Balkan Media Freedom Initiative - Antoinette Nikolova and Peter Horrocks CBE
In episode four of the CFOM podcast we mark World Press Freedom Day by discussing the threats to media freedom across Europe. World Press Freedom Day was established 31 years ago and is held every year on 3 May to shine a spotlight on the challenges journalists face and the importance of a free press in society.
For this episode, we collaborated with the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) , a group of media and advocacy experts drawing attention to the decline of media freedom in Southeast Europe. We spoke to board members Peter Horrocks CBE, former director of BBC World Service, and Antoinette Nikolova about their work.
In December 2023, BFMI published their report entitled Defunding Disinformation in the Balkans.
Peter and Antoinette told us how major European brands are funding and legitimising media outlets that disseminate disinformation in the Balkans. They also spoke about the impact disinformation has on public trust in journalism and what this might mean in a big election year, alongside how we can tackle disinformation.
Find out more about the work of the BFMI here: https://www.balkanfreemedia.org/ (https://www.balkanfreemedia.org/)
18 Apr 2024
Episode 3: Episode 3 Jessica White from Freedom House on challenges to media freedom across Europe
In episode three of the CFOM podcast we talk to Jessica White, lead researcher at Freedom House, which researches pressing threats to democracy and human rights around the world and supports activists and advocates pursuing democratic change.
Earlier this year, Freedom House published a report entitled Freedom in the World 2024: The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections and Armed Conflict.
Jessica, one of the report authors, told us about the mounting financial and political pressures news organisations are facing across Europe, and the steps they are taking to respond to a climate of growing public distrust.
You can find out more about Freedom House and read the report here (https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2024/mounting-damage-flawed-elections-and-armed-conflict/policy-recommendations)
Hosted by Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
12 Jan 2024
Episode 2: Lucy Westcott from the Committee to Protect Journalists on supporting reporters in the most dangerous situations
In episode two of the CFOM podcast, we talk to Lucy Westcott,
director of the Emergencies Department at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a role which sees her supporting and advising reporters in some of the most dangerous situations of all.
Lucy told us how her background in journalism - as a writer for outlets including Newsweek and The Atlantic and as a UN correspondent - exposed her to the vital work of the CPJ.
She explained how the definition of "threats" has evolved to encompass the "devastating" impact of online harassment, and the need for all journalists to take preventative steps to protect themselves from digital attacks.
Lucy also tells us what a watershed moment the Covid pandemic was for journalists, with many having to report a threat on their own doorsteps for the first, and how the CPJ stepped in to offer support.
You can find out more about the work of the CPJ here.
Hosted by Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
2 Nov 2023
Episode 1: Prof Jackie Harrison on the work of CFOM and McNae's co-author Gill Phillip's on the biggest threats facing journalism
In this first episode of the CFOM podcast, we talk to Prof Jackie Harrison, Professor of Public Communication, UNESCO Chair on Media Freedom, Journalism Safety and the Issue of Impunity and chair and founder of CFOM.
Prof Harrison tell us about the work of the group and why it is so important to speak up about issues of media freedom.
We also speak to Gill Phillips, the incoming co-author of McNae's Essential Law for Journalism, the definitive legal text for practicing journalists.
She talks through her career as a legal advisor at the BBC and the Guardian and discusses some of the biggest threats facing journalism today.
Hosted by Gemma Horton
Produced by Anna Jones
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