According to the Association of Polish Journalists (Stowarzyszenie Dziennikarzy Polskich, SDP), an affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Polish journalist Lukasz Masiak (31) working for the popular local newsportal NaszaMlawa.pl has been beaten to death in the night of 13 to 14 June 2015 in the city center of Mlawa, a town located in north-central Poland. “Lukasz Masiak was an esteemed and courageous journalist working for a local newsportal. We are very sadened to learn his death and deeply concerned that decisive response of law enforcement authorities comes only after the murder of the journalist,” said the SDP representative. “We send our…

“The country is going through a time in history whereby the concept of “criticism” has lost its substance. Any opinion opposing the views and positions of the politically powerful and not praising them are perceived as an “insult” or “defamation”. Any political dissent is subjected to intimidation. Triggered by this attitude, negative effects on political and social polarization has reached all segments of the society as well as the social life including publishing,” states a new report published this week by the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB). Although focusing mainly on freedom to publish for book writers and authors, the report also shows significant interest for…

Attending the Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum 2015 in Bonn (22/06/2015), the European Commissioner Günther Oettinger referred in his speech to “media freedom and pluralism” as a “crucial value for the EU”. To give examples of concrete steps, the Commissioner mentioned different EU projects involving the active participation of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). “Whether a media outlet is so-called traditional or online, media practitioners will always have to be warranted the right to report facts and offer their views and opinions. Political pressure, economic hardship, physical attacks against journalists, restrictive legislation, and a general financial crisis in the sector all influence…

Editorial  “Medal” for Azerbaijan for being leading jailer of journalists Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President As the host of the first European Games, Azerbaijan has certainly won the “medal”, even before the opening of the game, for its reputation as one of the leading jailers of journalists and its hostile treatments towards journalists and media. While local journalists are being put behind bars for their critical voices, many foreign journalists are barred from entering the country to report about the Games. The press freedom situation is at its worst on record when Azerbaijan ordered to shut down the office of…

“Despite existing legal guarantees, media freedom in Bulgaria is currently impeded or threatened by a combination of practices which, taken together, create an environment conducive to widespread self- censorship among journalists and undue external pressure on media,” said the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks in a special report published today (22/06/2015) about the situation of human rights and media freedom in Bulgaria. “This new report published by the Commissioner for Human Rights confirms the bad reputation of the Bulgarian media. The country is regularly named as the lowest ranking European Union member state for media freedom in several international…

The EFJ in cooperation with its affiliate  the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), sent letters to the President, the Prime Minister and other high officials of Montenegro to express its concerns about the increased lack of respect for journalists’ and media workers’ right by the employers on decent salaries, fair remuneration for freelances, trade union rights and the rights to collective bargaining in Montenegro and the region. The EFJ draws particular attention to the case of journalist Tufik Softic who because of his investigative reporting, was brutally beaten eight years ago. Two years ago, a bomb was thrown…

The Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ), a member of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has launched a campaign calling on the newly elected government in Denmark to amend the Danish freedom of information law (called Open Administration Act in Denmark) to improve transparency and open access to government documents and information for citizens and journalists. The EFJ gave its strong back to DJ and demand the government to amend the freedom of information law to comply with European standards on freedom of information. The Danish Open Administration Act, also known as the “Closure Act”, was passed in 2013 with a…

Employees of Newsquest, one of the UK’s largest regional newspaper publishers with more than 200 papers and owned by the US company Garnett, are on strike over major reorganization, compulsory redundancies and salaries, as some of them are not paid the London living wage. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined their affiliate in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), and supported a 12-day strike starting today in south London by the Newsquest Media Group’s workers. After failure of negotiations with the management that took place until…

UPDATE (06/08/2015) : Three people who allegedly physically attacked Croatian investigative journalist Zeljko Peratovic in May will be investigated for attempted murder. — The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in cooperation with the Croatian Journalists’ Association of Journalists (CJA/ HND) sent several letters to Croatian high level representatives from Parliament, government, police and justice  including Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia and Zoran Milanović, Prime minister, in order to to express its great concern for the safety of  freelance journalist Željko Peratović and ask for official intervention for his protection. Željko Peratović, the winner of the CJA Award for…