European Federation of Journalists

Florence conference: Strenghtening journalism in Europe


The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) attended the final conference Strenghtening Journalism in Europe: Tools, Networking, Trainingon 29-30 January, at the European University Institute, in Florence. Hosted by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF), the meeting discussed the challenges for journalism, the status of journalists across Europe and the actions at European and international level to ensure the safety of journalists.

The speakers included Pier Luigi Parcu (CMPF/EUI), Elda Brogi (CMPF/EUI), Ricardo Gutiérrez (General secretary of the EFJ), Giovanni Melogli (International Alliance of journalists), Peggy Valcke (KULeuven), Aidan White (EJN), Olaf Steenfadt (Media consultant), Mario Tedeschini Lalli (Gruppo Espresso-Republica), Gabriele Bertolli (EC DG Connect), Sylvie Coudray (UNESCO), Aidar Botagarov (Office of the OSCE Representative for the Freedom of the Media), Pierluigi Mazzella (CDMSI, Council of Europe)…

Ricardo Gutiérrez, said that “it was a good opportunity for the EFJ to coordinate its views with some important partners of our federation: UNESCO, OSCE, Council of Europe, European Commission, Ethical Journalism Network, CMPF”.

“We discussed together about the impact of the horrific attack on “Charlie Hebdo”, in Paris. I repeated again that the challenge now is to prevent the escalation of anti-terrorist laws, to confront fear, and to fight against hate speech. The EFJ does not want a society where journalists could only work under police protection. The only political response which is worthy of the Paris March is to consolidate our freedoms and our democracy. The cooperation of journalists’ organisations, including the EFJ, with the European Commission, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Unesco to ensure better security for journalists is only the first step. Everyone now has the responsibility to step up the efforts in building safer working conditions for journalists”.

(Photo Credit: CMPF)