LITHUANIAN JOURNALISTS’ UNION Address  Journalist’s HouseJogailos str. 11, LT-01116 Vilnius, Lithuania Chairman  Dainius Radzevičius Phone  +37061263838, +370 5 2122805 Email  info@lzs.lt ; pirmininkas@lzs.lt Contact Person  Dainius Radzevičius Website  www.lzs.lt Membership status                  To be officially endorsed

EDITORIAL BY MOGENS BLICHER BJERREGARD, EFJ PRESIDENT The EFJ newsletter, EFJ Focus, is available in English, French and German. Online harassment, abuse or threat targeting at female journalists was on top of the agenda at an expert meeting organised by Dunja Mijatović, Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) on 17 September in Vienna. Experts including media professionals, organisation leaders and government representatives spoke out against online harassment and violence faced by female journalists. The meeting was also a wake-up call that it is time for the journalist community to tackle the problem.…

A new report “Balancing act: press freedom at risk as EU struggles to match actions with values” published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) was launched at the Press Club-Europe in Brussels on 29 September. Jean-Paul Marthoz, CPJ’s EU correspondent and author of the report, said at a press conference that “the future of the EU’s global influence will largely determined by its credibility and consistency by following a press freedom diplomacy based on principles and free of double standards.” The report examines EU policies and institutions, finding that while they maintain an outward commitment to press freedom, in many cases…

The offices of the Kurdish daily newspaper Azadiya Welat and Kurdish news agency DIHA in Diyabakir (Turkey) have been attacked on 28/09/2015 by police forces and 32 journalists and media workers were taken into custody for interrogation for more than seven hours by the authorities. According to media reports, Turkish police used forces, by breaking several doors, to enter the headquarters of the Kurdish media outlets and publishing houses without a proper warrant issued by the authorities. “The police said they were looking for evidence following recent explosions in the neighbourhoud. Our colleagues have asked them to show a judicial warrant to enter…

Comisiones Obreras (FSC-CCOO), one of the EFJ affiliates in Spain, just launched a campaign in defense of public broadcasting. “Public broadcasting is under attack in Europe. Political and economic decision makers are questioning its credibility and even its existence. People should not forget the function of public broadcasting: to ensure public opinion is based on truthful, plural and independent information.” Here is the video of the FSC-CCOO campaign (subtitled in English):

How do journalists work in digital media?? The EFJ asks this  question in a European-wide survey drafted by its Expert Group on Digital Media. The EFJ hopes to get a better overview about the working conditions of  “digital journalists” in EU member states and beyond.  How different are contracts, salaries and fees for online journalists? How is work satisfaction? What needs to be improved and what role can the union play to enhance working conditions of journalists working in digital media? Responses to these and many other questions are expected from this survey geared at journalists working for digital media…

In a letter sent today to Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the European and International federations of journalists and the European and International Trade Union Confederations denounce current threats against press freedom in Turkey and increased censorship ahead of elections. The organisations call for urgent reforms to ensure that Turkey’s media is able to recover its position as an effective profession that is independent, pluralistic and in the service of the public interest. Since April 1, the IFJ and the EFJ reported 22 alerts on Turkey to the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of…

During a conference hosted by the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) leading journalists from across the political spectrum united in condemning the surge in attacks on press freedom led by the government in recent weeks. Participants recounted how, since the inconclusive June elections and the relaunch of the conflict with the PKK in July, journalists and media have come under sustained assault from the government and their supporters. Newspapers are regularly attacked by angry mobs, numerous websites of press agencies and trade unions are repeatedly blocked, foreign journalists are being deported, while many…

The Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) urges journalists and all other persons in charge in public and private media to be careful and professional when reporting about refugees entering Croatia. The CJA urges journalists to avoid hate speech and not to publish unverified information. The CJA also calls on editors of internet portals not to publish readers’ comments that might provoke intolerance, xenophobia and hate speech. We urge media to reveal any attempt of political actors, who want to use refugees for political and pre-election aspirations, and to explain and analyse the reasons of refugees for leaving their home countries and…

“We must support our female colleagues, defend them and make their voices heard. Harassment and abuses targeting at female journalists shall not be tolerated,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, the EFJ President after the OSCE meeting on online abuses of female journalists on 17 November in Vienna. The conference has gathered international experts in the field to help increase understanding and gravity of the issue  involved best practices and possible solutions to tackle the mounting number of online threats targeting female journalists. During the meeting, experts and journalists spoke about the gravity of the issue and called for urgent action to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has denounced the latest attack and arrest of journalists who were reporting the refugee crisis on the border between Hungary and Serbia today. Six journalists were reportedly beaten  on Wednesday by Hungarian border police. According to local media reports, Warren Richardson, an Australian photographer, and Jacek Tacik, a Polish reporter together with a Slovakian journalist were accused of crossing the border between Hungary and Serbia illegally. They were beaten before they were arrested by the border police. The journalists had been working in the Serbian village of Horgoš and followed a group of refugees who entered…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today strongly condemned the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s decision to ban at least 38 international journalists and bloggers from the country for one year. The President’s decree, which was signed yesterday and published on the presidential website, names 388 people representing an “actual or potential threat to national interests, national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” The IFJ and the EFJ call on the Ukrainian government to remove the journalists’ names from this list. Poroshenko said the list targeted people involved in Russia’s 2014 annexation of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) will be jointly hosting the conference ‘Turkey: Fighting for journalists’ rights and freedoms in a politically polarized country’ in Istanbul 17/18 September 2015. This international conference is the culmination of five years campaigning on journalists’ rights, freedoms, working conditions and capacity building for the journalist trade union organisation whose strength is fundamental to the future protection and promotion of Turkish journalism. The political context in which the conference will be taking place could not be…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), today joined Ukraine’s journalists in commemorating the 15th Anniversary of the murder of Ukraine investigative journalist Georgy Gongadze. On 16 September 2000, Georgy Gongadze’s body was left beheaded in the forest outside Kiev. He was killed as punishment for his exposures of government corruption and the case sparked worldwide condemnation and a global campaign for the prosecution of his killers. After years of investigations, four former officers of the SBU were eventually convicted of Gongadze’s murder, but the people responsible for ordering it remain free. “Today we…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), represented by its President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, will participate to a conference in Vienna on countering online abuse of female journalists held by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna on 17 September. The conference will gather experts in the field to help increase understanding and gravity of the issues involved best practices and possible solutions to tackle the mounting number of online threats targeting female journalists. Among the EFJ members, they rarely received reports of harassment by journalists and the problem is not widely…

The European Federation of journalists (EFJ) and the Spanish Federation of Unions of Journalists (FeSP) denounce the American authorities for refusing the visa application of the Spanish journalist Manuel Martorell who works for the online information website cuartopoder.es. An official of the US consulate in Madrid first explained that the visa refusal was based on the homonymy between the journalist and an Ecuadorian national who is the subject of a legal proceeding in the United States. A few days later, the Vice-Consul, Ms. Julie P. Akey signed a letter stating that the visa refusal was due to Martorell’s “terrorist activities”…