In a workshop gathering around 50 journalists and journalists’ representatives from all over Europe has called on national government and European institutions to ensure legal protection for freelance journalists so that they can enjoy equal rights and treatment. The workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Swedish Journalists Union (SJF) on 10 & 11 October in Stockholm has highlighted that while freelance journalists are growing across Europe, their working conditions and labour rights are lagging behind. “Freelance journalists are often being exploited with meagre payment and little rights”, this was the sentiment expressed by the participants…

This article was originally published on the ETUC website: Despite a steady increase in the number of self-employed workers – who now represent 1 in 10 of all workers – the self-employed are denied the rights enjoyed by employees reveals a new report by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). ‘Trade unions protecting self-employed workers’ published today by the ETUC shows that self-employed workers are not allowed by law from joining trade unions in some European countries, cannot negotiate standard rates and working conditions through collective bargaining in many EU member states – supposedly due to due EU competition law, do…

The European Federation of Journalists invites you to join the silent vigil organized by Daphne Caruana Galizia‘s family and friends in Brussels. Here is their invitation to us: On 16 October 2017, the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in broad daylight in a car bomb outside her home in Malta. Daphne was investigating and exposing cases of corruption at the highest levels of government. Since then, three suspected contract killers have been apprehended but there is still no trace of who sent them and why — and it is not clear whether enough is being done to find…

Prior to the anniversary of the murder of the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today joined a coalition of international organisations calling for a public inquiry into the her murder. The 26 international media freedom and journalists’ organisations have published an open letter to the Maltese Prime Minister, Mr. Joseph Muscat. The letter reads: Dear Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, I write to you on behalf of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and 25 organisations (listed below) representing thousands of journalists and human rights activists concerning Malta’s response…

Journalists and editors have written to the Lithuanian Centre of Registers complaining about the recent policy to restrict media’s access to public data. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) criticises the Centre for restricting free press and supports the requests made by the journalists to the Lithuanian government. On 14 September, the Lithuanian Centre of Registers ended its long-time practice of providing the media with registry data free of charge. This happened without any prior notice to the media. Since the new policy implemented, registry data are provided to the media for the same fees as those paid by other commercial users.…

On 2 October, the European Parliament approved the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The new rules aim to guarantee a fairer regulatory environment for the entire audiovisual sector. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed in particular the new requirement for Member States to have independent regulatory authorities for audiovisual media services. The Directive establishes a set of criteria that the regulator has to follow in ordered to be considered independent. First of all, it should be legally distinct from the government and functionally independent. Secondly, it should not take instructions from any other body in accomplishing its tasks.…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) are deeply shocked by the brutal murder of Victoria Marinova, a 30-year-old Bulgarian journalist working for regional TV channel TVN. She is the fourth journalist killed in the EU since 2017 after Kim Wall in Denmark, Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia. A vigil in Marinova’s honour will be organised in the capital, Sofia, on Monday evening. Victoria Marinova has been brutally killed on Saturday, around noon, in the city of Ruse, located in the north of the country. According to local media reports, her body was found in an area…

On 4 October, the European Parliament unanimously approved a resolution “on deterioration of media freedom in Belarus, notably the case of Charter 97” condemning the current situation of press freedom in Belarus, where independent news outlet and journalists suffer constant detention and state harassment. The resolution addresses the Belarusian government’s decision to block the internet access to the news website Charter 97 as well as pressures against journalists, freelancers and independent media. It calls on the EU institutions to monitor the situation of media freedom within the country and to condition the negotiations with Belarussian government to its commitment for the independence…

On 1st October, the Source Protection Act in Criminal Cases has finally become effective in the Netherlands. The law provides strengthened protection for the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, which have been recognised in several cases as an essential part of freedom of expression by the European Court of Human Rights. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Dutch affiliate the NVJ in welcoming the law, defined by NVJ General Secretary Thomas Bruning as “necessary to the correct functioning of journalism”. With the Source Protection Act, there will always be a preliminary consideration by a judge before the police can have access to the sources data…

The European Federation of Journalists and its Italian affiliate FNSI will join a group of international press freedom and freedom of expression organisations from October 15-17 on a mission to Malta. The group will support local civil society actions marking the one-year anniversary of the death of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and conduct fact-finding into the case and broader press freedom issues in the country. The group has requested meetings with government officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, as well as a wide range of civil society stakeholders. The EFJ will be represented by Anna Del Freo (FNSI), member…

On 2 October 2018, the Istanbul Court of appeal upheld aggravated life sentences of six suspects, including journalists, over terrorism charges. Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül were convicted for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, reported Anadolu Agency. All suspects were accused of being linked to FETÖ, the group which is widely believed by Turkish authorities to have orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 that killed 250 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. The journalists had appealed to the high court for their release but the court of appeal upheld their sentence.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is very worried about the deteriorating medical condition of Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetić who has been on hunger strike since 6 September 2018. Domagoj Margetić is a journalist investigating crime and corruption in Croatia and is editor of „No censorship“ show at TV Mreža. Over the last several years, he has reported many death threats, attacks against his property as well as physical attacks, one of them qualified as attempted murder. According to the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Margetić and his family have suffered intensified pressures since August 2018, such as blackmailing and death threats, which triggered…

On 28th September, the Italian court of Ragusa sentenced the aggressor of Paolo Borrometi, a 44 years old freelance investigative journalist and the president of Articolo 21, the Italian association promoting freedom of expression. Venerando Lauretta was sentenced for the death threats he made against the journalist, aggravated by the mafia method, to one year and six months imprisonment. Lauretta, regent of the mafia clan Carbonaro-Dominante of Vittoria (Ragusa), begun to threaten Borrometi after identifying the journalist as responsible for the opening of investigations against his person. Paolo Borrometi is the editor of anti-mafia investigative website LaSpia.it, where he reports on the Sicilian…