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Croatia: HRT management to dismiss journalists and reform Ethical Council

The European Federation of Journalists together with its affiliate from Croatia, the Croatian Association of Journalists (CJA), have expressed their concerns over threats by the acting general manager of Croatian public broadcaster, HRT, Siniša Kovačić to dismiss journalist Sanja Mikleušević Pavić. Kovačić also initiated another dismissal procedure against Mirna Zidarić, president of HRT Ethical Council. The CJA has criticised the unprofessional behaviour of the acting HRT management, which had been confirmed by the joint International mission to Croatia in June , to which the EFJ participated. On September 23, the  HRT Ethical Council agreed that Sanja Mikleušević Pavić,  who is president of CJA Branch…

Picture taken on August 31 2016, shows the Franceinfo's TV production control room, at the Maison de la Radio, the French public service radio broadcaster Radio France's headquarters in Paris. Franceinfo, formerly a 24-hour news radio station operated by Radio France, will become as of September 1, 2016 integrated into a new triple media 24-hour platform comprising of a rolling news channel, a reworked news radio station and a news website operating under the same name, the same logo and airing some shared content provided by four public broadcasting groups : France Televisions, Radio France, France 24 and the INA for archival images. The new public news channel will be broadcast on channel 27 of TNT. / AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY

EFJ calls on MEPs to strengthen independence of audio-visual regulators in Europe

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today expressed growing concerns over recent amendments to weaken the independence of national regulatory authorities in the review of the EU regulation on audio-visual media (AVMSD Directive 2010/13/EU). The EFJ has called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to reject amendments that would weaken the independence of national regulatory authorities and the  European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA). Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary, said, ‘‘We are very surprised to see several amendments attempting to weaken the provision to guarantee the independence of national regulatory authorities. This is completely contradictory to…

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Azerbaijan: EFJ/IFJ denounce “politically motivated” dismissal

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) today condemned the “politically motivated” dismissal of an Azeri journalist working for APA Holding Media Organisation on 12 September. Journalist Gasimov Farahim Ilqar posted a photo on Facebook showing the success of a rally organized recently by the National Council of Democratic Forces, an umbrella organisation uniting part of the country’s opposition forces, and which had been sanctioned by the government. The demonstrators were protesting in the frame of an upcoming referendum that would give Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev greater powers and a longer term in office, media reported. The journalist told that…

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Macedonian journalist Zoran Bozinovski must be released

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called today in Skopje for the immediate release of detained Macedonian freelance journalist Zoran Bozinovski. Zoran Bozinovski has been spending five months in detention in Skopje, after his extradiction from Serbia where he had spent another 18 months detained. The prosecutor’s office in Skopje needed four months to deliver the formal indictment for alleged espionnage, blackmail and criminal association. The EFJ member organisations in the country, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) and the Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), consider that the case against Bozinovski is not based…

The emblem of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) at the entrance of the Mangfall baracks in Bad Aibling, southern Germany is pictured on June 6, 2014. AFP PHOTO/CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE

Germany: The BND draft law must protect journalists

The European Federations of Journalists (EFJ), along with its German affiliates – the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) and the DeutscheJournalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union in ver.di (dju in ver.di) – urges the German Bundestag to back off on the revision of the Bundesnachrichtendienst –BND law, following the strong opposition of many media organisations and the OSCE. The draft law foresees to increase BND’s capabilities to spy on non-EU citizens outside of Germany. No exemption is made for foreign journalists or editorial offices outside the European Union: they would be subjected to surveillance without an explicit court order. This law would legitimise a practice…

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EJN 5-point test for hate speech available in 7 new languages

As well as launching new guidelines for migration coverage at the Jakarta World Forum for Media Development, the EJN co-hosted a session about online regulation which looked into ways journalists and others can define, identify and respond to hate speech. Today, the EJN is happy to announce that our 5–point test for hate speech is now available in seven new languages, including Albanian, Dutch, Indonesian, Macedonian, Serbian, Turkish, Ukrainian. The test is already available in Arabic, English and French. The 5-point test and its translations are supported by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).

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Turkey’s journalists prosecution marathon has started !

This morning (21/09/2016), the Caglayan Court of Justice in Istanbul heard 5 different prosecution cases against journalists. The EFJ-IFJ and its affiliates TGS (Journalists Union of Turkey), DISK-Basin-Is (Journalists Union of Turkey from DISK) and TGC (Journalists Association of Turkey) have been able to observe the following cases : the appeal in the MIT Trucks case where journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül  working for Cumhuriyet newspaper who were sentenced to 5 years in jail for revealing state secrets and arms trafficking between Turkish intelligence services (MIT) and Syrian armed rebel groups. The hearing was held in secret but this did not…

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Turkey: solidarity with a newspaper is not a crime

The first hearing at Istanbul court of justice was this morning (20/09/2016) against journalists Ayse Düzkan, Ragip Duran, Hüseyin Akyol and Inan Kizilkaya. The four journalists are being prosecuted for participating in a solidarity campaign with the Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem. After 20 minutes hearing, the judges decided to merge this case with 20 other similar cases and to resume the hearing on 15th December 2016. Before the case started, supporters gathered outside the court house to make public statements. The EFJ-IFJ representatives, Barry White and Mehmet Koksal, were present along with DISK Basin-Is members (journalists union), TGS members (journalists’…

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Death threats against Serbian journalists must be investigated

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliates – the Croatian Journalists’ Association, Association of Macedonian Journalists, Association of BiH Journalists, Association of Kosovo Journalists, Union of Montenegro Media and Independent Association of Serbian Journalists – to strongly condemn the brutal death threats against Nedim Sejdinović, President of Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists (NDNV) and Dinko Gruhonjić, NDNV Program director. Threats were sent by anonymous letter to NDNV in Novi Sad (Serbia). The letter called on Sejdinović to resign as President of the Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists if he and his colleague, Dinko Gruhonjić, do no want to “be found swimming in the Danube”. Hate…

A man walks past video screens displaying TV channels in Athens on August 30, 2016. Greece launched a multi-million euro auction for four private TV licences, a process originally due two decades ago and now marked by political infighting. Eight groups are vying for the four 10-year nationwide licences, with opening bids starting at three million euros ($3.4 million).Their representatives will be locked up in an office building with no outside communication until the process is complete, a move prompting angry protests from TV managers. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI

Greece: auction for TV licenses threatens media pluralism

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) backs its Greek affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN), to denounce the closure of four out of the eight private TV channels, leading to thousands of job losses, after the decision of the Greek government to launch a multi-million euro auction for four private TV licences despite protests by broadcasters and journalists. The EFJ strongly supports the mobilisation of media workers in the protest to safeguard media pluralism and independent journalism in Greece. Early this year, the Greek government has passed a law to allow only four TV licences to issue to private broadcasters. The European Commission expressed…

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My days in jail after the coup

The attempted coup of July 15 and its harsh impact on Turkish media and journalists. An editorial by Bulent Mumay, of one of the journalists arrested in those days and later released, published by our partner Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso “Son of a bitch! Bastard, traitor!”. “Dishonored! So you’re a traitor? You should be beaten up…”. “Shut up!”. “Son of a bitch! You are going to pay for this!”. Such an endearing banter, although not too original, could belong in a fight between teenagers or delirious hooligans during a game. Neither is true, though – these are hateful messages posted on…

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