Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS, EFJ-IFJ affiliate) and the Professional Association of Journalists of Serbia (PROUNS) held today (08/07/2015) an indignation rally outside the building of the Serbian Constitutional Court. SINOS members demanded the Constitutional Court to take into consideration the initiative for assessing the constitutionality of the new law on public information submitted by several media associations almost a year ago. According to SINOS, the new law could hamper the transparency of media ownership resulting in some tycoons and political parties owning most of the media. In August 2014, the Serbian Parliament adopted a new package of media legislation (Law on…

Plenary session of the European Parliament on 9 July 2015 We will not limit #FreedomofPanorama. People can take pictures of whatever they see in public places #EPlenary #copyright @Senficon — Günther H. Oettinger (@GOettingerEU) July 9, 2015     The European Parliament is likely to adopt an initiative report that could potentially hamper the right of press photographers to take photographs in public spaces, the International and the European Federation of journalists have warned. The report, drafted by the German Eurodeputy Julia Reda, makes a number of proposals to amend authors’ rights legislation in the EU as a contribution to…

Send your solidarity message to the AFP staff on strike in the comment box below. Strike continues at AFP France against termination of collective agreements (c)P.Kamenka http://t.co/MQqMzEYvmFpic.twitter.com/50JOckydIk — EFJ (@EFJEUROPE) July 8, 2015     The International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists have today called on Mr Emmanuel Hoog, CEO of Agence France Press (AFP), one of the world’s major news agencies, to revoke the company’s decision to terminate 117 collective agreements and business agreements. The social model that has been put in place for decades at the AFP provides the protection necessary for journalists and…

A study led by the Belgian association of professional journalists (AJP, EFJ affiliate) on diversity and equality shows that women make less than 18% of people interviewed in French speaking dailies, which is 5 times less than men. The new figures show no progress in this field since the last survey conducted in 2011 by AJP and are below the world average of 24% across all media. Women are rarely quoted in information related to sports (7%), politics (18%), environment (16%) or in news analysis. The study also shows that women have greater presence in areas such as education (37%), health and well-being…

The EFJ affiliate in Sweden, Svenska Journalistförbundet, has announced the signature of a new collective agreement with Almega Medieföretagen covering all freelance journalists and media workers. “This agreement is an important step forward to strengthen the position of freelance journalists in Sweden,” said Jonas Nordling, President of the Swedish union of journalists. EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, quickly congratulated the Swedish colleagues for what he qualified as an “impressive collective agreement for all freelancers”. Impressive agreement for all #freelance in @journalistforb Sweden https://t.co/W0oeVecdnR @EFJEUROPE #TradeUnion — Mogens B. Bjerregård (@mogensbb) July 1, 2015 It is important to note that the agreement covers all freelance…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today expressed deep concerns about the violence used against journalists and media workers covering labour issues in Turkey. “International standards like freedom of association, right to collective bargaining and right to strike must be respected by all parties and journalists who are playing a key role to assess the effectiveness of those rights should be totally free to do their job”, said EFJ-IFJ. According to media reports and local trade unionists, journalists and freelance media workers reporting on labour issues for the daily Evrensel Gazetesi and the…

Journalists and photographers will face a new wave of restrictions on their work as the Spanish government enacted the controversial public security law (also known as gag law or “Ley Mordaza” in Spanish) on 1 July, warned the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), who have joined their Spanish affiliates FAPE, FeSP, FSC-CC.OO. and ELA-Gizalan in calling for repeal of the law.  The Public Security Law makes a criminal offence “any unauthorised use of images or personal as well as professional data concerning police officers which may put at risk the safety of the…