Established in 2009 our Funded Partner programme supports local legal centres worldwide that focus on the defence of journalists. We believe building partnerships with national media defence centres is vital. These partnerships facilitate culturally sensitive and sustainable protection for journalists facing legal threats.  Â
Our Partners in 2024
In Europe, we supported organisations working on pressing media freedom issues. Our partners the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland (HFHR), Ossigeno per l’Informazione in Italy, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) in Hungary worked on a wide range of key threats, including SLAPPs and spywares, such as Pegasus.
We also support the efforts of Human Rights Platform (HRP) in Ukraine so that they can continue to provide journalists with much needed legal defence. This area of work has proved crucial given the ongoing war.
In Turkey, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and the Foundation for Society and Legal Studies (TOHAV) continued to defend journalists accused of incitement to terrorism, criminal defamation or anti-State rhetoric for their reporting critical of the government.
In Latin America, we collaborate with the Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) in Colombia, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), Propuesta CÃvica in Mexico, and the Red Centroamericana de Periodistas who all provide support to journalists subjected to physical attacks and legal threats — work that remains critical given the risks in the region.
We also partner with Le Collectif des Associations Contre l’Impunité au Togo (CACIT) in Togo and Campaign for Free Expression (CFE) in South Africa. These organisations provide legal assistance in court and undertake precedent-setting legal action on press freedom cases.
We strengthened our work in Asia. We support the Media Policy Institute (Kyrgyzstan), Legal Aid for Cambodia (Cambodia) and Digital Rights Nepal (DRN).
Finally, we support three other partner organisations who must remain anonymous for security reasons.
Partner Impact in 2024
In 2024, we awarded over £500,000 in grants to 19 partner organisations to support the operation of media defence centres across Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa — strengthening legal protection for journalists worldwide. We also held three partner convening events, in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, providing continued support to our grantees, facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Over 85% of our partners work in countries that are rated problematic, difficult or very serious by the 2025 World Press Freedom Index. Amidst an increasingly challenging context, feedback shared by our partner organisation shows that Media Defence’s support has enabled our partners to deliver crucial support to journalists, enhance their organisational legal and operational capacity and strengthen their networks.
Partner organisations have delivered crucial support to journalists.
– Media Defence financial and legal support has enabled our partners to litigate 408 cases across a range of freedom of expression issues, nationally and internationally.
– 11 partners reported handling cases that set a positive precedent for journalists and media outlets in their country.
– 7 partners reported working on cases that had positive rationes decidendi or obiter dicta handed down in their judgment documents. This means judges made important positive statements or decisions that could help strengthen future legal protections for journalists and human rights defenders.
– 4 partners reported working on cases that had negative binding rationes decidendi or obiter dicta handed down in their judgment documents. In other words, some courts issued decisions or remarks that could be used to justify restrictions on rights in future cases, making legal defence efforts more challenging.
Partner organisations have enhanced their legal and operational capacity.
– By engaging in new legal cases and support to journalists – including in new geographical areas in some cases -, our partner organisations’ legal capacities have been further strengthened.
– Media Defence’s support has enabled the continuation of our partners’ administrative work, and strengthened other operational capacity areas – such as digitalisation, knowledge management and fundraising – fostering organisational growth.
Partner organisations have strengthened their networks.
– Partner organisations have elevated their organisational visibility, and have developed new partnerships and collaborations with journalists, lawyers and civil society organisations.
To be able to provide continued, vital support to journalists, our partners have stressed the importance of long-term, continuous funding. Partner organisations have also highlighted the importance of providing support for the mental health and well-being of journalists and human rights lawyers.
Strengthening Press Freedom in Nepal: One Year of Partnership with Digital Rights Nepal
Press freedom in Nepal is under growing pressure. Journalists face mounting legal threats, digital censorship is on the rise, and financial constraints leave many without the means to fight back. That’s where Digital Rights Nepal (DRN) comes in.
Since 2023, Media Defence has partnered with DRN to provide critical legal defence for journalists targeted for their reporting, ensuring they have the legal backing to continue their work. In many cases, DRN told us that simply having a lawyer led to charges being dropped—a powerful deterrent against those trying to silence the press.
But DRN’s impact goes beyond the courtroom. They’ve been at the forefront of defending online freedoms, including taking on the Nepali government’s controversial TikTok ban in 2023. Their legal challenge helped overturn the ban and sparked national conversations about online censorship. They’re also leading efforts to track and expose digital rights violations, pushing for greater accountability through a Media Freedom Violation Tracking System in collaboration with Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission.
Media Defence is proud to stand with DRN as they push back against repression and ensure press freedom is protected.Â
Defending Press Freedom in Italy: Media Defence’s Partnership with Ossigeno per l’Informazione
In Italy, threats and intimidation against journalists remain widespread, with over 7,000 cases documented by Ossigeno per l’Informazione (Ossigeno) since 2006. As the country’s only organisation consistently monitoring these attacks, Ossigeno per L’informazione plays a critical role in exposing press freedom violations and providing legal support to journalists facing retaliation for their reporting.
A longstanding Media Defence partner, Ossigeno has helped over 80 journalists fight back against legal harassment, achieving a 95% success rate in defamation cases. Italy’s outdated defamation laws, which criminalise journalistic work and impose severe penalties, continue to be weaponised to silence critical reporting. Through our partnership, journalists receive high-quality legal defence, ensuring they can continue their work despite mounting political and legal pressures.
In 2024, Ossigeno reported a growing number of gender-based attacks, online intimidation, and threats from public officials. Meanwhile, a culture of impunity persists, with 90% of threats going unpunished. However, our joint efforts have secured key legal victories, reinforcing protections for journalists targeted for their work.
Interested in our Funded Partner programme? Read more about it here.
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