The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday afternoon that Finland did not violate a photographer’s right to freedom of expression. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Finnish affiliate, the Union of Journalists in Finland (Suomen Journalistiliitto), consider this decision as a dangerous defeat for freedom of expression. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled by a majority (the President and three other judges expressed a dissenting opinion) that Finland did not violate the freedom of expression of photographer Markus Pentikäinen. This is a disappointing outcome to the nine-year legal battle and…

Thousands of Greek journalists who are members of the EFJ affiliates in Greece are taking part in a 24-hour strike starting from 6 am today against a draft bill on broadcasting licences that will be voted by the Greek Parliament on Saturday, 24 October. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has backed journalists’ unions (JUADN, PFJU, ESPIT and ESIEMTH) in Greece by demanding the government to make changes to the draft bill’s provisions that are affecting the journalistic profession, labour relations and restrict access to information. The draft law stipulates that TV stations will be able to obtain a license…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today welcomed the launch of a new research project by the Council of Europe (CoE) to assess the risk facing journalists across the 47 CoE member states. The EFJ, Reporter without Borders (RSF), International News Safety Institute (INSI) and Index on Censorship, are partners of the project “Journalists at Risk: part of the job?” and a working group to conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative study on unwarranted interference, fear of crime and self-censorship among journalists in Europe, which is one of the most important issues facing the journalism community. The working life of journalists is often…

One year after the Lamy report’s publication and shortly before the World Radiocommunications Conference 2015, senior representatives from broadcasting, network infrastructure, trade unions, viewer groups and media organisations met in Brussels to engage with EU Commissioner in charge of the Digital Single Market Mr Günther Oettinger and Member of the Parliament Mr Pascal Lamy on spectrum policy and the future of Europe’s audiovisual, creative and cultural sector.               Frequencies are at the heart of a future proof audiovisual, radio and live performance sector; with spectrum as a core driver for cultural diversity, creative jobs and growth in the Digital Single Market.…