The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes today’s statements by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. In a statement issued today, Marija Pejčinović Burić calls on governments to protect the essential role of journalists in democracy, especially in times of crisis, and to avoid unduly restricting media freedom during the pandemic: “Governments are facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 crisis, but the situation must not be used to silence or hinder journalists,” said the Secretary…

Launch of the 2020 Annual Report by the partner organisations to the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists Attacks on press freedom in Europe are at serious risk of becoming a new normal, 14 international press freedom groups and journalists’ organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warn today as they launch the 2020 annual report of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists. The fresh assault on media freedom amid the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an already gloomy outlook. The report analyses alerts submitted to the Platform…

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May and in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s leading professional and representative organisation of journalists with more than 600,000 members in 146 countries, launched a “Global Platform for Quality Journalism” on Wednesday 29 April. The document is aimed at IFJ affiliates, its regional groups and is supported by all the trade union World Federations, representing several hundred million workers. Information must never be confined. Information must remain a public good. By bringing more than two thirds of humanity to a standstill,…

Journalists at Vedomosti, one of Russia’s most prominent business publications, have demanded the removal of editor in chief, Andrei Shmarov, for pro-Kremlin censorship. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) to urge Vedomosti’s ownership to protect the independence of media professionals and respect press freedom. In March, Vedomosti was sold to Konstantin Zyatkov, the publisher of Argumenty i Fakty, a weekly newspaper owned by the Moscow government, and to the businessman Alexei Golubovich, an oligarch and former top executive at the Yukos oil company. In the following…

Threats to press freedom are impeding the public’s right to know. Media restrictions, the closure of local newspapers, controlled public service media, precarity and insecurity, intimidation and violence against media workers are among the many ways press freedom is being curtailed just at the very time when the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening lives and the entire global economy. At this time journalists and quality journalism are essential. This year the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) will mark World Press Freedom Day, celebrated annually on May 3, by ringing alarm bells against the threats to press freedom and by reaffirming the vital…

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has opened the 2020 call for its Journalists-in-Residence (JiR) programme for a period of up to six months, between June 2020 and February 2021. The programme is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), which works to provide swift and efficient support to journalists under threat. The JiR programme is unique as it provides a safe haven for media professionals from the European Union Member States and Candidate Countries who are at risk and need to take a break away from a hostile working environment. Journalists and other media professionals are given temporary shelter,…

The Covid–19 pandemic has brought the world to a lockdown and revealed just how important independent media and the free flow of information are at times like these. The crisis has unveiled the many factors that can converge to repress media freedom. A freedom that is already under fire from different directions, private and public alike. On the occasion of the 2020 World Press Freedom Day, the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) invite you to a virtual discussion on how to counter the abusive strategies used by governments to limit press freedom in the current Coronavirus pandemic. When: Monday 4 May at 18:30-20:00…

On World Intellectual Property Day 2020, April 26, the European and International Federations of journalists (EFJ-IFJ) are putting the spotlight on the so-called “publishers’ right”, one of the key achievements of the EU Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market, interviewing three copyright experts of the EFJ Authors’ Rights Experts Group (AREG). Michael Khlem,Senior advisor of the Deutsche Journalisten-Verband (DJV), the German Journalists Association, one of the largest journalists’ organizations in Europe. Olivier Da Lage, a journalist at Radio France International and board member of the Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ), and a member of the Conseil supérieur de la…

Friday 17 April marked one year since the adoption by the European Union (EU) of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. World Intellectual Property Day (April 26) is another occasion for the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) and their affiliates in Europe and around the world, to celebrate this major achievement and the gains made since. We are marking this occasion by releasing an interview with three copyright experts, on the Directive’s new neighbouring right for press publications, and its key benefits for our sector and members. The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single…

The COVID-19 outbreak has shown us how vulnerable we are to an epidemic, and how devastating the effects can be: on life, on health, on society, on our economy. It has demonstrated very clearly the importance of protecting working people (and all people) from disease, especially at the workplace. It has also shown the importance of investing in good public health care, investing in good conditions for health care workers and other frontline workers, and the need to ensure good sick pay and other provisions to protect the wages and jobs of all. For International Workers Memorial Day – 28…

Media freedom organisations have united under the umbrella of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and made their first contribution to the urgent debate on Corona-virus. It is urgent because there is a state of emergency to safeguard public health. But some governments are abusing this situation in order to stifle critical questions and pursue their own political agendas. At a top-level online meeting the newly launched MFRR presented its findings on this critical issue to Věra Jourová, who is the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency. The briefing of the Media Freedom Rapid Response In…

Journalists and media companies need ambitious packages to effectively face the devastating social and economic impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on the media sector. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) published on 8 April its proposals for recovery plans at the European and national levels (in English and French) and presented them to EU Commissioners Véra Jourová (DG Values and Transparency) and Thierry Breton (DG Internal Market). Journalists’ unions throughout Europe have followed with concrete measures to save journalism not only now, but also into the future. Croatia The different financial packages announced by the Croatian government have not…

Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov has directed death threats at Russian journalist Elena Milashina for reporting about human rights violations in Chechnya under the pretext of combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The International and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in expressing solidarity with Elena Milashina and calling on the Chechen leader to let journalists report freely during the COVID19 pandemic. On 12 April, Elena Milashina, an award- winning journalist for Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, published an article describing how the Chechen Governor had responded to the pandemic. She explained that…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the European Parliament Culture Committee’s statement calling on today the European Union to create an emergency fund for media. “Additional EU action is needed to make sure EU help reaches the ravaged media and culture sectors, say EP Culture committee members. The culture and creative sector in the EU – especially individual creators and SMEs – and the media sector are being decimated by the crisis. The European Union must therefore do more to help those struggling sectors to get back on their feet, stress the members of the European Parliament’s Culture and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today reiterated its call for Russian authorities to drop the terrorism charges brought against Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva. Her trial is scheduled to begin in Pskov this Monday, April 20, behind closed doors. Svetlana Prokopyeva, a Pskov-based stringer for the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Russian service and the Echo of Moscow news radio station, is being investigated for comments critical of Russian authorities in relation to a suicide bombing in 2018. While hosting a show on the Pskov affiliate of Echo of Moscow on 7 November 2018, she discussed a suicide bombing attack in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with 23 journalists-, press freedom- and civil society organisations, has circulated joint recommendations to the European Commission and the European Parliament Civil Liberty’s (LIBE) Working Group on the Rule of Law, and other interested stakeholders. We believe the new European Rule of Law Mechanism needs strengthening in order to prevent breaches in the EU Member States. In July 2019, the European Commission announced the launch of the European Rule of Law Mechanism: a new policy process aiming to promote rule of law culture and prevent breaches in the European Union (EU), under the…