Journalists’ organisations in Germany are opposing the government’s proposal to allow telecommunication companies, social networking sites and online messaging services to hand over private data to the authorities for national security purposes. The affiliates of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) and Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union (dju) in ver.di are calling their government to stop the draft law that would violate the fundamental rights of journalists to protect confidential sources, as well as the privacy rights of many citizens. The EFJ backed its affiliates by joining the call on the German government to withdraw the draft law…

On 27 May, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) had a constructive meeting with Silvia Costa, the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education (CULT). Silvia Costa (S&D, Italy) who had signed the EFJ Manifesto, reiterated her strong support for its principles outlined and showed readiness to stand-up for them. As former journalist, Costa discussed with great interest on the various issues: how to improve media ownership transparency, media literacy,  training for journalists, authors’ rights, new financial models and start-ups  for journalists — all within the changing media landscape and its impact on journalists’ work as a…

The EFJ newsletter, EFJ Focus, is available in English and German. Editorial by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President Union capacity building is now on top of the EU agenda when it comes to media development. On 20 May, I attended the first Eastern Partnership Media Conference in Riga, Latvia, where the main topic focused on how to strengthen free and independent media in Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries. Opening the conference, the representative of the Latvian presidency, Dunja Mijatovic (OSCE) and Nils Muiznieks (Council of Europe) re-affirmed their commitment to media freedom. They highlighted the importance of creating a pluralistic and independent…

A workshop on atypical workers organised by the International Federation of Actors (FIA) in cooperation with the Dutch actors’ union (FNV KIEM) within the joint project with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and UNI-MEI took place in Amsterdam on 20 May. The participants, union leaders from the creative and media sector, discussed the impact of the changing landscape for workers and the impact on their working conditions and union services across the European Union. Yvonne Dankfurt from the EFJ affiliate in the Netherlands(Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten – NVJ), outlined the programmes offered by NVJ…

A round-table on media freedom in Serbia discussed at the European Parliament the dramatically worsening media crisis in Serbia. Maja Vasic Nikolic representing EFJ affiliate NUNS outlined the atmosphere of impunity towards attacks on journalists in Serbia. Only for 2015 14 threats against journalists are recorded so far. “As long as the Serbian government sees media as a tool for achieving short term political goals, and not as a fourth power, not much will change”, said Nicolic and pleaded for transparency in ownership, freedom of expression and journalism in the public interest. Sletlana Mesarovic from the online news portal Pescanik referred to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) took part to the international interactive media workshop called Uniting Global Media for Human Rights organised by the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD). The event held in Stavanger (Norway) on May 21-22 was also a good networking opportunity with the participation of human rights experts and journalists from around the world. The workshop discussed over two days issues including the freedom of expression, censorship and sharing of experience and knowledge while documenting human rights violations worldwide. On day one, Melody Patry (Index) gave a skype presentation about Mapping Media Freedom in Europe…

In a letter sent today, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) call on Azerbaijan President, Ilham Aliyev, to release all seven journalists who are currently behind bars. In recent years Azerbaijan has developed a reputation as one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists. In the past 12 months numerous journalists and human rights activists have fallen victim of what appears to be a deliberate campaign to silence critical voices in the build up to the first ever European Olympics to take place in Azerbaijan in June 2015. The imprisoned journalists include: Nijat Aliyev,…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ ) have welcomed the steadfast commitment of Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Thorbjørn Jagland to protect journalism and the safety of journalists in the 47 member states of the CoE with the launch of an online platform to monitor media violations. Prior to the press conference on the CoE platform to strengthen the protection of journalism and journalists’ safety on Tuesday 19 May, Jagland participated in a meeting at the headquarters of the IFJ and the EFJ in Brussels with the other partners (Reporter Without Borders…

According to several media reports, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has urged the Communications Ministry to hamper all media communications linked to the Gülen movement by withdrawing state means used to facilitate the broadcasts. If executed, the general request will lead to forbid specific opposition TV channels to use satellite infrastructure controlled by the state. The office’s Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order sent the Ministry a written request on April 26 to target the broadcasting and publication of TV channels, radio stations, print media outlets and websites owned by the Gülen movement claiming that the US-based preacher Gülen…

The media landscape in Eastern Europe remains challenging for journalists. How to ensure the legal, regulatory and policy environment is favourable for the development of independent media? What are the factors impacting on the development of professional media in the countries of the EaP region? These will be the questions explored by EU policy makers, media experts, journalists and civil society representatives ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summitt held by the Latvian Presidency of the European Council to evaluate EU relations with partners countries. European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) represented by its president, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, will attend the first…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has published a special edition newsletter focusing on recruitment news in the framework of the EU funded project Rights and Jobs in Journalism. The newsletter highlights key trends, tips and best practices in recruitment and union services shared by the EFJ affiliates in the workshop held by the Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ) on 11 – 12 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. See the special edition HERE More information (including videos) will be published soon on our website https://europeanjournalists.org/rights-and-jobs-in-journalism-building-stronger-unions-in-europe/ 

A delegation of the European Federation of Journalists (composed of EFJ Steering Committee member Urs Thalmann, EFJ Director Renate Schroeder and EFJ Trainee Hélène Brédart) met with Francine Cunningham, Executive Director of the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) to discuss issues of relevance to both organisations as well as follow-up of an EFJ resolution on social dialogue in Switzerland. The EFJ representatives outlined the difficult situation for journalists in Switzerland as the publishers continue to refuse to negotiate a collective agreement in the German and Italian speaking parts of the country. Both the EFJ and ENPA agree that the struggle for the…

Journalists working for the British broadcaster, ITV, staged a 24-hour strike on 14 May calling for fair pay. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), a member of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in the UK led the industrial action together with the technicians’ union (BECTU) to demonstrate outside ITV studios across the countries. The dispute is in response to a 2% pay offer from the company. ITV journalists were not satisfied with the rise when the company has recorded a rise in profit of 39% after tax in 2014. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, “The company’s success is down…

Top 10 tips on recruitment and serving membership Membership makes unions stronger. How do unions reach out and engage youth while developing services that cater for the needs of a wide range of membership? This was the theme of the EFJ workshop on “Let’s organise, invest in youth and services” attended by 30 union leaders and recruitment officers from the EFJ affiliates on 10 – 11 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants raised the need to adapt recruitment strategies and services to respond to the changing landscape and labour market in journalism and media. Here are the top 10 tips and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Index on Censorship are delighted to announce that Index project to map media freedom in Europe has received funding from the European Commission – one of just two projects selected. Mapping Media Freedom (#ecpmf)– launched as a pilot project in 2014 by Index on Censorship – records threats to media freedom throughout the European Union and EU candidate countries. In the last 12 months, more than 750 violations have been reported, including threats of violence, harassment, intimidation and legal penalties. The map includes threats faced by journalists and media groups at local as well…

Regarding press freedom “we are certainly embarking in a new era in Slovenia. When the criminal police was asking me questions back in 2013, my case was the first where the Slovenian State decided to prosecute a journalist for publishing allegedly classified information. Today, there are three more cases in pre-trial procedures where four colleagues are now facing similar charges referring to the articles in the criminal code which prohibits the publication of classified information”, explains Anuška Delić (investigative & data journalist at the daily Delo) in an exclusive interview in Brussels with Ricardo Gutiérrez (EFJ General Secretary). In 2011, Anuška Delić wrote…