The Press Freedom Police Codex launches in France

In recent weeks, there has been an escalation in the incidences of violence by police against journalists, especially in France. There could not be a better time to establish a dialogue between the groups and to work towards stopping the violence. This is why the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has joined the French Union of Journalists of the Confédération générale du travail (SNJ-CGT), to launch its Press Freedom Police Codex in Paris. The codex was developed by ECPMF and partner organisations based on research conducted across Europe on the situation of journalists. ECPMF teamed up with…

Journalists’ and press freedom organisations welcome start of trial in Kuciak murder

The undersigned international and regional press freedom and journalism groups welcome the start of the murder trial this week against the suspected killers of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírova. The suspects on trial at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, include the alleged mastermind, Slovak businessman Marian Kočner, who prosecutors say ordered Kuciak’s murder in retaliation for his journalistic work. A confidante of Kočner’s, Alena Zsuzsová, is charged with having arranged the murder via a middleman, Zoltán Andruskó, who in turn contracted two alleged hitmen, cousins Tomáš Szabó and Miroslav Marček. Andruskó previously admitted guilt…

Italy: Outrage over Sanremo festival presenter’s sexist comments on public TV

The presenter of the Italian Sanremo 2020 festival, broadcast by the Italian public television RAI, caused a wave of indignation in Italy after he praised his co-hosts with sexist comments. The presenter of the Sanremo music festival, Amedeo Umberto Rita Sebastiani, also known as Amadeus, introduced his co-hosts saying they were chosen for being “very beautiful” and referring to one of them as a “sexy icon”. He added that Francesca Sofia Novello, who is a model, is a “super beautiful” woman, and praised “her ability to be close to a great man (in reference to Valentino Rossi, her partner) by…

Albania: Journalists’ association pushes President to veto “censorship” law

The President of Albania, Ilir Meta, has vetoed a proposed law that would stifle online media following the pressure from the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania (APJA), who denounced the bill as “authoritarian”. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) welcomed the decision, stressing that anti-defamation laws must not be used as tools to restrain press freedom. The proposed amendments to the Law on Audiovisual Media and the Law on Electronic Communications would have granted new government bodies such as the Albanian Media Authority (AMA) and Albanian Communication and Postal Authorities (AKEP), the power to instantly block media…

Getting real about diversity and talent: 10 recommendations

Europe’s newsrooms are still predominantly white and middle class, though societies are changing at rapid speed. How to better reflect all members of the increasingly diverse European societies within Europe’s Media and public sphere is crucial; the issue of diversity and gender is and important element in EFJ’s project work. The European Federation of Journalists has published a new report about how to get newsrooms and editorial teams more diverse. As part of the EFJ project ‘Managing change in media’, supported by the European Commission, one of its contributors, Alexandra Borchardt, drafted ten recommendations for newsrooms to be more diverse,…

UK: BBC journalist wins landmark equal pay case

BBC presenter and National Union of journalists (NUJ) member Samira Ahmed today won a landmark equal pay victory against the BBC. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) congratulate her and the NUJ for its excellent and inspiring work and hope this victory will encourage all women journalists seeking equal pay to make sure they are in a union and media employers to learn the lessons. Journalist Samira Ahmed, backed by the NUJ, first appeared at The Central London Employment Tribunal on Monday 28 October to challenge unequal pay at the BBC. The journalist has been presenting the BBC…

Spain: EFJ-IFJ stand for the defence of Madrid’s public broadcasting service

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) join their Spanish affiliate Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía de CC.OO. in the call for the defence of Madrid’s public service broadcaster RTVM (Telemadrid and Onda Madrid) from the blocking situation its management is suffering by the regional government. The Government of the Community of Madrid has not been allowing the replacement of medical leaves for months, it has not yet authorised the broadcasting of women’s sport or second division football matches that have been taking place since 2017, nor has it approved the expense accepted in the Program Contract for…

How can journalists protect their mental health from online harassment?

Journalists have always been in the spotlight and now, with the rise of the use of social media, they are one of the main targets for online harassment. These attacks often includes threats to the journalists themselves and their families and are most commonly directed to women and their biggest consequences are psychological, according to an IFJ survey. Anxiety, stress and fear are, together with self-censorship, the main effects of online harassment on journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published a short guide on how journalists should protect themselves from this harassment: prevention measures to take in advance, how to…

George Foulkes: “A free media is as important to democracy as regular elections”

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Council of Europe Rapporteur on media freedom George Foulkes‘ call for better protection for journalists in Europe. Over the past two years, George Foulkes, who is a British Labour Co-operative politician and former Scotland minister, has been investigating this issue as General Rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace). His report points out that the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism shows that the situation is getting worse in Europe. From 2015 to date, 26 journalists have been…