As the year comes to an end, we have witnessed many ups and downs in media development. There will be challenges for us in the coming year – fighting for media freedom, quality journalism and better working conditions for journalists. But there are also hopes.

Carrying on the positive spirit from this year, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will continue our fight for journalists. Our focus for the coming year will be:

• Safety for journalists

2016 is a record year for the number of jailed journalists in Europe. Over 120 journalists were put behind bars in Turkey. We will develop ever-closer cooperation with the Council of Europe and partners of the platform to protect journalists to ensure commitment from national governments to respect journalists.

• Building stronger unions through better recruitment and organising

The EFJ project “Rights & Jobs in Journalism” concluded this year provided new tools and inspiration to our members with strategies on recruitment and organising. Network and collaboration have been built among members to exchange best practices to defend journalists’ rights.  I hope the coming year will be a year of more members and stronger unions.

• Improving working conditions through better legislation

All journalists regardless of their employment status shall have the equal rights and treatments. This year, we have achieved momentum together with other trade unions in the culture and media sector in lobbying European institutions to better EU legislation in order to protect freelances (or atypical workers).

• Ensuring media pluralism through collaboration

The EFJ should take the lead to unite public service media and private media in a common approach to ensure pluralism in Europe instead of leaving the media market to global players. Only through dialogue, we can find the balance between public service media, private media, the innovative newcomers and global players.

• Expanding our network of partners

Our network of partners has increased significantly through our active involvement and increased visibility in EU institutions, inter-government organisations, media stakeholders, and other trade unions. This will surely help influence policy-making in the media especially on EU copyright which will be crucial for journalists.

2017 will be a challenging year. But with what we have achieved this year and the positive spirit we will carry on, the EFJ together with our members can make a difference for our journalists.

Mogens Blicher Bjerregård

EFJ President