Media Freedom as a Legal Concept: How does the ECtHR define “a Medium”?
Vol.30,No.4(2022)
If one conceives media freedom as a specific legal concept, how to define media? This article looks for answer to this question in case-law of the ECtHR. It argues that even though there have been attempts to define media in theory, the Court tends to use intuitive approach in order to recognize media or journalists. While some authors identified in the case-law several characteristics typical of media – public interest and special duties and responsibilities – these could not sufficiently distinguish media from other speakers. The article concludes that Article 10 of the ECHR case-law does not view the media as privileged per se. That opens the floor for discussions if some rights, traditionally linked to the media freedom, should indeed be reserved only for the media.
freedom of speech; media; media freedom; journalism; public interest; Duties and Responsibilities
671–693
Terezie Boková
Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno; Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
Ph.D. studentc; MJur programme student
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