During a press conference today in Skopje (Macedonia), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) called on the Macedonian authorities to investigate the attacks against 10 journalists and media workers, during last night’s storming of the Macedonian parliament building by nationalist demonstrators. At least two journalists were injured in the attack, according to reports from the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM). Dimitar Tanurov, a reporter for the independent online news agency Meta, was taking pictures inside the parliament. He…

UPDATE (03.05.2017): The government withdraw the draft law on criminalisation of defamation.  The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) backs its affiliate, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), in opposing the draft law prepared by the Ministry of Justice aiming to criminalise defamation of the President and Kosovo state symbols. The amendments to Kosovo Criminal Code foresees that anyone who insults or expresses with ill intention contempt for the Republic of Kosovo, for its constitutional order or its anthem, is punishable up to three years of prison. In addition, the defamation of constitutional body, including the President, the Parliament, the…

On Tuesday (25/04/2017) the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) voted in favor of the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The revision acknowledges the emergence of new online platforms and enforces basic rules to better protect minors and combat hate speech. It adapts the definition of video-sharing platforms, applies qualitative advertising and sponsors rules for these platforms. Video sharing platform service is now defined as a service that consists of the storage of a large amount of programmes or user-generated videos. The video sharing platform provider does not have editorial responsibility for them. The revision…

Following ECPMF-EFJ-SEEMO-OBCT fact-finding mission to Macedonia, on 25th-28th April 2017, the four organisations issued this statement today, regarding rising violence against journalists in Macedonia: We hereby express our deep concerns about the yesterday‘s violent attacks against journalists in the parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. From the beginning of 2016 until yesterday at least 21 attacks against journalists in Macedonia have been registered by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM), out of a total of several dozens within the last years. All this clearly demonstrates a rising trend in violence against journalists. The state of media freedom in the…

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) EU Office organised yesterday (26/04/2017) a meeting about media and its role for democracy in Europe. The international experts presented new initiatives for social change and talked about how media can help to build democracy and how to deal with hate speech, racism and lack of diversity in European newsrooms. “The misconception that news should be free is a great danger to democracy. News and journalists who write the news must be paid,” stressed Birgit Sippel, German member of the European Parliament. “If the media only relies on the advertiser’s funds,…

The German affiliates of the European Federation of Journalists, the Deutscher Journalisten-verband (DJV) and Dju in ver.di criticized the adoption of the Network Enforcement Law („Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz”) by the German Federal Cabinet on April 5, 2017, supposed to be adopted by the German Bundestag in the summer. Dju in ver.di issued a statement on April 5: “Even if we strongly reject the use of fake news and hate speech in social networks, in case of doubt, the deletion of such content is not the right response,” said Cornelia Haß, national director of dju in ver.di. “Freedom of expression and diversity of opinions are fundamental to our…

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has today (25/04/2017) voted to re-open the monitoring procedure on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey. The re-opened exceptional procedure was closed in 2004. The adopted resolution notes that “with respect to freedom of the media and of expression, the Assembly is alarmed by the repeated violations of freedom of the media, the large number of journalists currently detained and the pressure exerted on critical journalists, which is unacceptable in a democratic society. Council of Europe member States have a positive obligation to ensure freedom of expression, protection of journalists and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has initiated a call backed by the international community, including the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), to save public service media (PSM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Urgent measures need to be taken to secure adequate and sustainable funding for PSM in BiH. It has been almost a year since the previous model for collecting the licence fee – through telephone bills –  expired. The two telecoms operators in BiH, Bhtelecom and M:tel, have been voluntarily collecting the fee for PSM ever since but this is now under threat and, this month, the amount of funding collected via this…

In many European countries journalists are under pressure, facing a variety of threats from governments, bosses and advertisers. The Council of Europe is marking World Press Freedom Day by underlining its support for independent journalism, free from unwarranted influence whatever the source. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland is publishing his annual report on the state of democracy and human rights in Europe. This year he focuses on several new topics, including the rise of populism and the spreading of fake news. Also published today, a new survey sponsored by the Council of Europe into the prevalence of unwarranted…

In times of political gambling, minorities become the scapegoating target of populist leaders. In name of the freedom of expression, racist discourses are legitimised by the electorate choice of right-wing representation in the structures of power. Although some discourses are becoming obsolete, media magnifies the stereotypes and can influence the negative perceptions largely and inaccurately promoted and which is yet reinforced by strong political discourse. But (new) media can also be an instrument for mobilization, participation and change. How is media helping to build democracy and a new narrative for Europe? And how to tackle hate speech, racism and underrepresentation…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have joined the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in expressing their deepest condolences to the newspaper Noviy Petersburg after the death of its investigative journalist and co-founder of the newspaper Nicolay Andrushchenko who died on 19 April in Mariinsky hospital at the age of 73. The IFJ has also backed calls for a full investigation in to his death. Andruschenko was a prominent journalist famous for his investigative reporting on such dangerous topics as local crime, corruption, and police brutality. He was reported to have been severely beaten by unidentified…

Petra Reski, female journalist and author of several books, recently published as freelancer for Freitag magazine some articles on the relations of an Italian businessman operating in Germany. The businessman accused of being member of the Italian maffia launched lawsuits against the journalist who did not received support from Freitag magazine based on the argument that “redaction are not legal protection insurance against inadequate research work”. The freelancer felt let down by “Freitag” magazine. The German union Verdi couldn’t support her financially for technical reasons as to receive legal support from the union, a journalist is asked to contact the…

Ms Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Mr Donald Tusk, President of the European Council cc: Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union and EU ambassadors to Turkey 20 April 2016 Object: Extension of Turkey’s state of emergency in a context of grave human rights violations Dear HR/VP Federica Mogherini, Dear President Donald Tusk, EuroMed Rights, European Federation of Journalists, Front Line Defenders, Index on Censorship and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) are deeply concerned by the Turkish government’s decision to extend the state of emergency…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have condemned an attack on Armenian correspondent Sisak Gabrielian by activists of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) while he was covering parliamentary elections in Yerevan on 2 April, 2017. Reporting for the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe (RFE) during the parliamentary elections, Sisak Gabrielian was hit in the face by one of the ruling HHK party activists and forced out of the office by polling station attendants after having noticed and started filming alleged fraudulent activities. According to the RFE Armenian service, Gabrielian noticed that many residents voting…

UPDATE (19.04.2017): Newspaper Novaya Gazeta received today an envelope containing an unidentified white powder. The envelope’s return address was “Grozny,” the capital of Chechnya, where preachers and political officials have recently threatened the newspaper for reporting on the alleged torture and detention of men suspected of homosexuality. ——————— The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have joined their Russian affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (the RUJ), in expressing their concern over serious threats by religious and  public opinion leaders in Chechnya against journalists and media staff at Novaya Gazeta, the leading independent newspaper in Russia. The…

The EFJ is encouraging to register for the Dataharvest/EIJC, the European Investigative Journalism Conference organised by Journalismfund.eu, the most relevant networking event for investigative and data journalists in Europe. The European Investigative Journalism & Dataharvest Conference, organised by Journalismfund.eu, will take place in Mechelen, Belgium from 19 – 21 May for the most interesting edition yet! #EIJC17 & Dataharvest offers hugely inspiring investigative journalism cases, ample opportunities to meet interesting colleagues and coders, and tons of training sessions to brush up your skills hands-on. Check out our preliminary programme. This is the one conference you do not want to miss! Register now. Also don’t forget to take a look at our pre-conference activities on the 18th of…