The Ministry of Health Promises Online Press Conferences with the Participation of Journalists

According to the Ministry's press service, the extended format conferences will be organized once a week, in addition to daily briefings during which updated data on the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic are provided, to which the media representatives do not have access.

The reaction of the Ministry of Health comes one week after 25 organizations and media outlets signed a joint request asking to hold online press conferences with the opportunity to ask questions to the authorities, invoking the need to inform citizens in a fair and equidistant way, from different perspectives, on matters related to the crisis.

The initiative was undertaken by the Independent Journalism Center, which decided to form a journalists’ crisis cell, which will report cases of hindered access to information, freedom of expression, or the right to inform and will put pressure on the authorities to ensure that journalists’ rights are observed.

‘For several weeks, the government officials communicated unilaterally and selectively accepted the invitations to TV shows. Thus, many of our colleagues do not have the chance to ask the authorities questions that would provide clarity on the major issues that concern us all,’ explained the IJC in the announcement on the set-up of the crisis cell.