Journalists’ associations from the Western Balkans countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo* and Serbia), with the support of the European Commission, for five years now have been monitoring freedom of media and journalists safety in their respective countries. In 2020, they were joined by another two countries, Albania and Croatia. The 2016 research methodology2 was modified during the years to standardise the collection and analysis of data and to adjust the focus of the research to the developments in traditional, but also online media environment in the Western Balkans countries.