On Thursday, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organised a media lunchtime debate with the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union and ENPA, the European Association of Newspaper Publishers. The theme of the meeting was: “#JESUISCHARLIE: Publish or not to publish, that is the question.” Jean-Paul Marthoz, European adviser for the CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and member of the EJN, Ethical Journalism Network, moderated the debate. He opened the discussions by recalling that “journalists are not irresponsible. Before each publication, there’s always a debate. (…) However, today we see a difference between the online media, like Buzzfeed and the…

The Dutch freelance journalist Mehmet Ülger has been acquitted today by the Turkish court. Ülger was detained at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on January 7 while trying to leave Turkey. He was later released. Ülger was told that he had been held in connection to his presence at the September 2013 trial of then imprisoned Turkish-Dutch journalist Füsun Erdoğan. Ülger had his cell phone with him in the court room at Erdoğan’s trial and reportedly took photos on his phone. Ülger attended the trial as an observer for the NVJ. Mehmet Ülger could have been sentenced to six months in prison. “I hope…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with their members in Macedonia the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM) and the Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), have today declared insufficient the temporary release of the investigative journalist Tomislav Kezarovski and called again on the national court to reconsider his innocence. Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered today from midday onwards in Skopje to denounce the two year jail sentence that the Macedonian Court had imposed last week on Kezarovski allegedly for revealing the identity of a witness in a murder case.…

On Monday, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau, Friends of the Earth Europe, and the Corporate Europe Observatory jointly submitted a complaint to the EU Ombudsman regarding maladministration by the European Commission in relation to access to documents relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The complainants note, and welcome, the own-initiative investigations launched by the European Ombudsman in relation to the transparency of the TTIP negotiations and the public consultation, and the decision published on 6 January 2015. We furthermore note the publication by the Commission of additional documents on its website on…

This Monday (19/01/2015), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) attended a meeting organised by the Press Club Brussels Europe on ethical reporting.  Aidan White, Director of the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), an organisation of which the EFJ is a member, was invited to talk about the “Ethics of reporting the Charlie Hebdo killings and the challenges for journalists”. White was introduced by Peter Nicolaas Kramer, President of the Press Club Brussels Europe, and Maria Laura Franciosi, member of the Press Club Brussels Europe. “There is a major crisis in the media industry today,” started Aidan White (EJN). “We need to…

The  European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in the Netherlands, the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), found the arrest and prosecution of the Dutch journalist Mehmet Ülger most alarming and violating press freedom as provided in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Dutch freelance journalist Mehmet Ülger was detained at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on the morning of January 7 while trying to leave Turkey. Ülger was later released and allowed to leave Turkey, but he must attend  a court hearing on January 21. Ülger was told that he had been held in connection to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) kicked off a two-year project “Rights and jobs in journalism” in a preparatory meeting held in Brussels with project partners. The project’s steering committee and representatives from four partner organisations (Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, Slovenian Association of Journalists, Federacion de servicios a la ciudadania de CC.OO, Danish Union of Journalists) discussed what measures can be taken to improve the capacity of unions in protecting the professional rights of journalists and reaching out to new members. Louise Theil, the recruitment officer of the Danish Journalists’ Union presented its recruitment strategy to the participants and…

Update (16/01/2015): Tomislav Kezarovski has just been put in jail this Friday evening The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today expressed deep concern about the sentencing of Macedonian journalist Tomislav Kezarovski to two years in prison by the Skopje Court of Appeal. Kezarovksi, an investigative journalist at the daily Nova Makedonija, has been in detention and then under house arrest since 28 May 2013 for an article he wrote in 2008 for Reporter 92 magazine in which he allegedly revealed the identity of a witness in a murder case. The Court of Appeal lowered today the sentence of the Primary…

In solidarity with the victims of Charlie Hebdo, the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet (“Republic”, kemalist and secular newspaper) published on January 14, selected excerpts from the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, avoiding its cover image on Prophet Mohammed. The eve before the publication, the police stopped and seized the truck delivering the newspaper. Having realised that Cumhuriyet did not publish the cover image on Prophet Mohammed, they handed over the truck to the newspaper after one hour. Following the incident, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), strongly condemns the attempt to hinder the work…