Media Freedom Coalition Secretariat

Providing operational and administrative support to a coalition of countries promoting media freedom.

About

Since 2022, the Thomson Reuters Foundation has hosted the Secretariat of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a partnership of over 50 countries from six continents that promotes media freedom at home and abroad. The MFC works alongside legal experts, press freedom organisations and UNESCO to drive legal reform, mobilise governments to promote the safety of journalists, and engage in public and private advocacy for journalists at risk. 


Overview

The MFC Secretariat provides administrative support to all stakeholders of the Coalition, manages the MFC’s communications channels, streamlines operations, monitors impact and facilitates decision-making. It also provides dedicated support to the co-chairs of the Coalition – the two countries that play a leadership role within the MFC. The MFC’s co-chairs rotate, with each serving a term of two years. 

Alongside these activities, the Secretariat ensures information is flowing effectively between the Coalition’s stakeholders, so that member governments are always kept informed of the specific needs and threats faced by journalists when taking action on media freedom. 

Key Highlights

The Secretariat has helped streamline the Coalition’s operational efficiency – from speeding up response times on urgent cases to engaging more member states and launching a new website.

Through monitoring and consistent data collection, the Secretariat produces impact stories, case studies and annual reports that showcase the Coalition’s progress and lessons learned to date. 

The MFC Secretariat has also invested significant time in promoting the engagement of member country embassies, which can play a vital role in supporting journalists where they are based. 

It has developed a suite of resources for member governments at both the central government and embassy levels, which enables a more robust and coordinated approach to protecting media freedom.

Training opportunities for journalists

Explore our range of capacity-building programmes for journalists.

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Countries

Over 50 countries from six continents make up the Media Freedom Coalition, supported by the Secretariat.

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Respondents saw impact

In a 2024 survey of the MFC’s primary stakeholders, 83% of respondents agreed that the Secretariat had increased the impact of the MFC.

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have support

100% of government respondents surveyed in 2024 said they have the necessary support to engage in the Coalition.


Training opportunities for journalists

Explore our range of capacity-building programmes for journalists.

Find out more

Without the support of the Secretariat of the Media Freedom Coalition, member countries with a small foreign service and limited number of diplomatic representations across the globe would hesitate to become a co-chair of the Coalition. The extra hands that the MFC Secretariat guarantees enables us to achieve significantly more and assure a consistent hand-over of Chairmanships. With their invaluable work, the MFC Secretariat supports us in promoting and protecting media freedom around the world.

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Katrin KiviAmbassador at large for Human Rights and Migration, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaking while Estonia was a co-chair of the MFC


How this programme is funded

The MFC Secretariat is funded by Global Affairs Canada and UK International Development from the UK government.

Learn more about the Media Freedom Coalition