The European Journalists Federation (EFJ) welcomes the recent initiative of the European Commission for fairer pay. This day stands for the moment up to which women technically work for free compared to men. Different EU countries have their own Equal Pay Day and today in Germany, this day is on 10 March. “It is simply unacceptable that in only three EU countries the pay of women to their male colleagues is below 5%, while in other countries such as Germany, Austria and Estonia, wage differences of 19% to 21%  are still the case,” explains Andrea Roth, chair of the Labour…

In the afternoon on 8 March, journalist Levent Gültekin was attacked by a group of around 20 people just metres away from his workplace at the Halk TV station in Bakırköy, Istanbul. The European Federation of Journalists and its Turkish affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC), the Journalists’ Association (GCD) and the Broadcast and Printing Press Workers Union, strongly condemn this brutal aggression and call for thorough investigations. The roots of such attacks, namely hatred-stirring, politically motivated online threats and insults, must also be addressed. The attack took place when Gültekin was on his way to the station as…

Belarus’ human rights situation has deteriorated further in recent weeks. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) believes this deterioration should be viewed in the context of the grave and systemic human rights violations the authorities committed in the run-up to the 2020 fraudulent presidential election and in its aftermath, for which there has been no accountability. The EFJ joins Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights and Article19 in demanding action by the UN Human Rights Council to establish a new mechanism assisting the process of accountability for human rights violations in Belarus. Developments in recent weeks mark a…

Ahead of a major debate at the European Parliament on efforts by governments to silence free media, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 18 other organisations in calling on the European Union to take decisive action to defend independent journalism and media freedom in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. —————– Statement to Members of the European Parliament ahead of the March 10 debate: ‘Government’s attempt to silence free media in Poland and in Hungary’ Dear Members of the European Parliament, Article 11 of the European Union’s Charter on Fundamental Rights is under threat as media freedom and media pluralism deteriorates alarmingly…

On March 3, 2021, the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow, Russia, sentenced journalist Ilya Azar, a special correspondent for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, to 15 days of detention and a fine of 150,000 rubles (1,680 euros) for allegedly organising illegal protests on Facebook. On March 5, the Moscow City Court rejected Azar’s appeal and said it would keep him in custody to serve his detention, according to the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ). The court ruled that two of Azar’s posts on his Facebook page – one from March 2020, supporting a rally against constitutional amendments to allow President…

On 8 March International Women’s Day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls for more vigorous actions to be made by governments and employers’ organisations to improve gender equality as the Covid crisis has deepened gender inequality.  Members of the EFJ experts groups on labour rights and freelances have looked at the working conditions of journalists during this period and noticed that working-from-home and lockdown policy has had a much greater impact on female journalists.  In Germany, according to a study from the Hans-Böckler Stiftung, women spend 1.7 hours more on work concerning family duties, since men tend to work…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in calling on employers, legislators and law enforcement bodies to take action to tackle violence and harassment at work. Carried out January-February 2021, the ETUC survey of women union leaders in 21 European countries found that only 16% say that employers have updated their policies to address online harassment associated with telework; 23% thought that employers did enough to tackle violence and harassment at work, including online; 16% think their national laws are strong enough to tackle violence and harassment at work, including online; 17% believe their…

Update (13 and 23/03/2021) Denis Ivashin is the 10th journalist in jail in Belarus. His address: Prison № 1. 230023, Grodna, st. Kirava, 1, Belarus. Yasep Palubiatka is the 11th journalist behind bars in Belarus. —————————- Nine journalists are behind bars just for doing their job in Belarus. All are victims of the indiscriminate repression launched by the regime of illegitimate President Lukashenko. Some are serving an unjustified harsh sentence. Others are awaiting criminal trials. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the call of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and invites you to send them a letter of…

The Media4Europe summit, organised on 3 March 2021 by Europe’s Media Lab (Fondation Euractiv), called for greater collaboration between media professionals and media outlets. Publishers, EU policy makers, media and journalists’ representatives, including EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, discussed solutions to make the media sector more financially sustainable and close to citizens’ needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that journalists and reliable news information are more necessary than ever. It has also tested the weaknesses and limitations of most of the European media business models. The awareness at the European level is growing: “the health of the news media sector…