The Committee on Budgetary Control has organised a public hearing with the aim of getting a better understanding of how investigative journalism can help to uncover cases of fraud and corruption within Member States, which is of particular concern to the CONT Committee due to potential cases of fraud within EU funds. The hearing was scheduled out of concern for declining levels of press freedom in Central Europe, in this context it is important to discuss the vital role that a free media fulfils in society. This briefing will provide a background on the role of investigative journalists before moving on to discuss the role that they play in uncovering fraud and corruption in Europe. It will then discuss the decline of press freedom in Central Europe before analysing different policies that could be used to protect investigative journalists.Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP