FESTIVAL 2025
- Home
- FESTIVAL 2025
FESTIVAL 2025: Press Under Pressure in Central Europe
How can we work in countries where the government sees the media as a problem? What should you do when oligarchs buy newsrooms and politicians attack reporters? How can we recognise when journalism is under unhealthy pressure? This edition focuses on media capture: the systematic takeover of the media by political and economic interests.
WHAT HAPPENED
Five days of discussions with journalists from across the V4 region about the pressures they face, and how they can resist them. Legislative attacks disguised as reforms. State advertising is being used to punish critical outlets. Media ownership is concentrated in the hands of politically connected oligarchs. The panels provided concrete examples of the tactics used by authoritarian regimes, ranging from flooding newsrooms with noise to taking over public broadcasting.
Bellingcat investigator spoke about Russian disinformation operations. Photographers demonstrated how to document crises without humiliating people. AI ethics experts showed how to detect deepfakes and algorithmic bias. Alongside these serious topics, practical workshops were held, including investigative techniques with Lukáš Diko, storytelling for international audiences, and climate reporting from voices in the Global South who are experiencing the crisis caused by the West. The festival became a space where journalists share survival strategies and build cross-border networks to fight back against the capture of the media.
The festival in numbers
MOMENTS THAT STAYED
Press Under Pressure
Beata Balogová (SME), Marius Dragomir (Media and Journalism Research Center), and Tamás Bodoky (Átlátszó, Hungary) mapped the three main tools used to control the press in Central Europe: legislative attacks, economic pressure through state advertising, and media ownership by politically connected oligarchs.
Russian Influence Operations
Ross Higgins (Bellingcat) and Grzegorz Rzeczkowski (Newsweek Poland) presented specific examples of Russian disinformation campaigns in Europe. Their message is clear: cross-border collaboration is essential because influence operations don't respect borders, and neither should investigations.
When Politicians Control Media
Bartosz Wieliński (Gazeta Wyborcza), Matúš Kostolný (Denník N) and Lili Takács (444.hu) discussed how authoritarian regimes do not need to ban critical journalism; they simply overwhelm it with irrelevant information. This involves flooding journalists with information, using diversionary tactics and creating propaganda narratives. The question is: how can journalists maintain their integrity when they are being manipulated?
The Struggle for Independent Public Service Media
Marína Urbániková (Masaryk University) and Vladimír Amrich (a former member of the RTVS strike committee, now working for Aktuality.sk) on attacks on public broadcasting in Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. When politicians take control of public television and radio, they control not just one newsroom, but the narrative for millions.
Climate Journalism from the Global South
Online conversation with Kunwar Khuldune Shahid (Pakistan) about reporting on climate catastrophes in countries that are the least responsible for emissions, yet face the harshest impacts. Local voices are essential to global climate reporting. These people are not just victims; they are the ones living the solutions.
Ethical Photography
Workshops with Jana Čavojská and Karol Grygoruk on how to photograph people in crisis without dehumanising them. Topics covered include how to obtain consent, avoid visual stereotypes and tell honest stories with respect.
WHO JOINED US
From investigative reporters to fact-checkers, from strike committee members to media researchers. Journalists fighting media capture across Central Europe and beyond.
Featured participants:
Ross Higgins (Bellingcat, UK)
András Földes (HVG, Hungary)
Jana Čavojská (photographer, Slovakia)
Marius Dragomir (Media and Journalism Research Center)
Tamás Bodoky (Átlátszó, Hungary)
Milijana Rogač (Istinomer, Serbia)
Bartosz Wieliński (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)
Matúš Kostolný (Denník N, Slovakia)
+ 25 more journalists, photographers, and media experts
Also joined by:
Pavol Szalai (Reporters Without Borders, Slovakia), Marína Urbániková (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), Peter Hanák (Aktuality.sk, Slovakia), Vladimír Amrich (Aktuality.sk, Slovakia), Jan Kaliba (Czech Radio, Czech Republic), Ria Gehrerová (Denník N, Slovakia), Magdalena Sodomková (freelance, Czech Republic), Robert Žanony (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Slovakia), Beata Balogová (SME, Slovakia), Karol Grygoruk (RATS Agency, Poland), Zuzana Gabrižová (Euractiv, Slovakia), Katarína Strýčková (Denník N, Slovakia), Lili Takács (444.hu, Hungary), Grzegorz Rzeczkowski (Newsweek, Poland), Lukáš Diko (Ján Kuciak Investigative Center, Slovakia), Peter Ivanič (World Between the Lines, Slovakia), Kunwar Khuldune Shahid (The Diplomat, Pakistan – ONLINE), Branislava Lovre (AI ethics, Serbia), OFF RECORD (student initiative, Slovakia)
