The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium condemns the online intimidation of investigative journalists working for La Sexta TV by Daniel Esteve, CEO of the eviction company Desokupa. Esteve’s harassment and threats to reveal personal information put the journalists’ safety at great risk. We call on the Spanish authorities to take immediate action to protect them. The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned by the threats and intimidation targeting the investigative journalism team of Equipo de Investigación, a program on Spanish private TV channel La Sexta, by Daniel Esteve, CEO and owner of the eviction company Desokupa. Between 8-15 September, Esteve…

33 EFJ members, unionists and media owners met in Istanbul, Turkey, and showed great commitment to develop their own collective bargaining and membership recruitment tactics and strategies. The 1.5-day workshop was organised by the EFJ and the Turkish Union of Journalists (TGS), one of the partners of the Stand Up for Journalists (SUJ) project. The union has attracted new young members and has had successful collective agreements, despite the worsening situation for press freedomand journalists’ working conditions in Turkey.  Speaking at the opening session, TGS President Gökhan Durmuş shared the struggle of journalists fighting for media freedom and better working…

The international media freedom mission to Croatia has highlighted several significant concerns regarding media law reform, transparency of state advertising, and the safety of journalists including SLAPPs. While some promising initiatives have been noted, the path is still long ahead for Croatia to ensure a free and independent media landscape.  The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium concluded an onlinefact-finding mission to Croatia. Between 9 and 20 September 2024, the delegation met with the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, an MP from the political party We Can!, the Agency for Electronic Media,…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium completed a two-day mission to Poland, 16-17 September, where it held meetings with the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, the Ministry of Culture as well as journalists, publishers, regulators, media law experts. The mission focused on measures to reform public service media, to protect journalists from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), and proposals to reform the media landscape in line with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The meetings discussed the changes within the public service media since the Civic Coalition-led government of Donald Tusk used contested legal mechanisms to remove senior…

The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and its affiliate the German Journalists Union (dju) in ver.di sent a letter to the management of Bauer Media Group Poland, on 19 September, following the failure of the last conciliatory stage over pay dispute with union representatives from Inicjatywa Pracownicza (“Workers’ Initiative”).  The IFJ, EFJ and dju urge the management to reconsider workers specific demands and engage in open consultation and discussion with the union’s representatives, before workers have no choice but to take strike action.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned press freedom and freedom of expression groups in strongly condemning the ongoing and intensifying threats against prominent Turkish journalist Murat Ağırel. We are deeply alarmed by the persistent pattern of intimidation, surveillance, and death threats targeting Ağırel, which represent a severe assault on press freedom and the safety of journalists in Turkey. These threats and acts of intimidation are not isolated incidents but part of a broader, systemic issue affecting press freedom in Turkey, where independent journalists frequently face significant risks in their pursuit of truth. We urgently call on the…