The State Duma on 21st November adopted a law that expands the status of “foreign agents” to private persons, including bloggers and independent journalists: 311 MPs out of 315 voted in support of the initiative, no one voted against, four abstained. The bill now has to be approved by the parliament’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, before President Vladimir Putin signs it into the law. Russia’s legislation on “foreign agents” already covers nongovernmental organisations and media outlets that receive any amount of funding from foreign sources. It requires them to indicate their ‘foreign agent’ status in publications, and creates reporting…

Prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested on 20 November in connection with investigations into the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech was aboard a yacht, apparently trying to leave the country. Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, described Fenech as a “person of interest” in the case and said there was nothing pointing towards the involvement of members of his administration in the murder. He was released on bail on Thursday evening. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family welcomed the arrest, saying it was “overdue” and added: “we now expect the authorities to continue investigating the links our mother uncovered between…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a partner of the new Stars4Media pilot project, starting in November 2019. Together with Fondation Euractiv, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and WAN-IFRA (World Association of newspapers and publishers), the EFJ will put young journalists from Europe with 2-10 years of experience in contact with media outlets in order to organise an exchange programme of 4-12 weeks. WHY: Addressing the crisis of the Media sector Disinformation disorder, falling trust and readership, unprecedented challenges in their business models, shifting skills and technology. The media sector is going through a deep multifaceted crisis. Solutions for a healthy…