European trade union leaders stand up for solidarity with migrants

On International Migrants Day, trade union leaders across Europe, representing 45 million members from 90 trade union organisations in 38 European countries, will reiterate their support for solidarity with migrants by backing the first European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on migration. Trade union leaders showed their commitment by signing the ‘We Are a Welcoming Europe’ initiative at a high-level meeting of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). “We are totally opposed to criminalising those who offer humanitarian assistance to migrants” said Luca Visentini, ETUC Secretary General. “The authorities should applaud and support those who help refugees fleeing life-threatening conflict. The Citizens Initiative rightly defends…

PACE hearing on migrants and media

The EFJ will participate to a hearing on “Migrant invasion: breaking the myth”, organised in Strasbourg by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), on 26 June. The EFJ will be represented by Yannis Kotsifos, from ESIEMTH, member of the EFJ Steering Committee.

#SilenceHate Media Camp

The Media Diversity Institute (MDI) is organising a media camp for 30 participants – journalists, audio visual professionals, and NGO and social activists who will exchange best practices and create innovative media products related to countering online hate speech towards migrants. The media camp will be held in London on 23-27 April as part of the project and campaign #SilenceHate. The participants coming from all over Europe will work in teams and as individuals. They are expected to design at least 10 media products and/or campaigns about migration issues responding to the ethical challenges associated with reporting on migrants. The…

EESC 10th Civil Society Media Seminar: “Communicating Migration”

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the advisory body to the EU institutions and the voice of organised civil society in Europe, will hold its 10th Civil Society Media Seminar on “Communicating Migration” from 24 and 25 November 2016 in Vienna. This event is principally directed to journalists and communications/press officers from civil society organisations representing employers, workers and other social, occupational, economic and cultural organisations. This communication seminar focuses every year on a relevant topic in the European media and engages leading members of the EU media and civil society in discussion and debate. This year’s seminar will…

Global media competition: Reporting fairly on labour migration

Update (18/12/2015): The ILO received a total of 258 entries from contestants in 68 countries. Follow this link to discover the winners. ———————- Recent debates on the migrants and refugees crisis have put media under spotlight raising the question of fair and ethical reporting. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched its first-ever global competition for the media, entitled ‘Reporting Fairly on Labour Migration’ to recognise exemplary media coverage on the topic. The winner will be announced on the International Migrants Day on 18 December and he/she will receive $1,000. The work of the winner will be promoted widely as an example of good practices worldwide. The competition is organised…

Hungary: journalists should not heat animosity

On November 11, the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities hosted a round-table on the role of journalists in preventing genocide and countering extremism at the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The opening panel featured the keynote speech of András Trom, Head of Section of Foreign and Security Policy of the Association of Hungarian Journalists (MUOSZ), an EFJ affiliate. The Budapest Centre noted that “Trom pointed out the key role that journalists have in society, insofar as they are charged with reporting on events and thus mediating people’s understanding of reality. In this sense, the quality…

Journalists covering refugee crisis face police attack in Hungary

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has denounced the latest attack and arrest of journalists who were reporting the refugee crisis on the border between Hungary and Serbia today. Six journalists were reportedly beaten  on Wednesday by Hungarian border police. According to local media reports, Warren Richardson, an Australian photographer, and Jacek Tacik, a Polish reporter together with a Slovakian journalist were accused of crossing the border between Hungary and Serbia illegally. They were beaten before they were arrested by the border police. The journalists had been working in the Serbian village of Horgoš and followed a group of refugees who entered…

Refugees: choices about words do matter

A hundred refugees spent the night outside in a park in front of the Refugees Office in Brussels, the “capital of Europe”, on Wednesday. Commenting on these events, many media talked about a “massive influx of refugees in Belgium.” Some simply mentioned a “flood of refugees”. Others stuck to comment on “the problem of hosting refugees.” The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an active member of the Ethical Journalism Network, reminds journalists “shall be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by the media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based on, among other things,…