A team of the Turkish TV channel Halk TV was attacked in the İçmeler area of Marmaris. The aggressors threatened to block the channel’s live broadcast from the fire-hit region and a cameraman was targeted with a broken glass bottle. This incident occurred after a recent threat by the government-controlled RTÜK (Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council) to TV stations over their critical coverage of the wildfires, which have been raging across the country for the past few days. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Turkish affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC), the Journalists’ Association (GCD) and the Broadcast and Printing…

One year after the fraudulent re-election of illegitimate president Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian regime’s repression has taken a dramatic toll: 497 journalists and media workers have been arrested, 29 are still in detention. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on the international community to take action. Here is the result of one year of repression in Belarus, as monitored by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ): Detentions of journalists and media workers: 497 Physical violence against journalists: 68 Administrative arrests of journalists: 119 Journalists and media workers in detention: 29 Media representatives subject to criminal prosecution: more than 50…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (CEATL) and the European Writers Council (EWC) call on the governments of Europe and the international community to demonstrate firm support for the democracy movement in Belarus and to provide refuge and humanitarian assistance to those fleeing the country. One Year after the rigged elections in Belarus,the country is being overrun with a radical crackdown on free speech and humanitarian organizations by the dictatorial Lukashenko regime. More than 1,500 organizations have been targeted by the “radical cleansing”, 41 are already on trial for state-ordered dissolution, including the…

The European Federation of Journalists joined the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today in calling for swift and robust action by the European Union and U.S. to defend media freedom in Poland and counter the serious attack on the independence of the country’s largest private television channel, TVN, by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Our organisations believe that the so-called “lex TVN” and the ongoing deadlock over the renewal of the license for its 24-hour news channel TVN24 are part of an increasingly systematic effort by PiS to erode critical journalism by engineering ownership changes of critical independent media…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) are highly concerned by a barrage of attacks and harassment of journalists by protesters at demonstrations across Europe in recent weeks against new government measures taken in light of the Coronavirus-pandemic. They fit a disturbing pattern observed throughout the region of increasing violence, harassment and intimidation of journalists and media workers at COVID-related protests, rooted in growing anti-media sentiment that fuels anger and distrust: In Germany, Jörg Reichel, the regional manager of the German journalists’ union dju in ver.di, was brutally attacked on the margins of an unauthorised…

The final report on “Building independent media to counter political interference”, authored by Marc Gruber, was published by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and funded by the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The report provides an overview of different threats to independent media in Europe and shares good practices and recommendations for an advocacy action plan. Below, a summary of the main points. Serving as the basis for this report are data collected through questionnaires circulated to EFJ affiliates, telephone interviews and EFJ activities, such as a series of webinars on the same topic. The participating countries, which are representative…

Jörg Reichel, the regional manager of the German Journalists’ Union, dju in ver.di, was brutally attacked during “Querdenker” demonstrations against the Covid-19 measures in Berlin on Sunday 1 August. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its German affiliates dju in ver.di and the German Journalists’ Association (DJV), in expressing solidarity with its member and calling on the authorities to conduct a swift investigation to hold the attackers to account. On 1 August 2021, an unauthorised Querdenker demonstration took place in Berlin. Thousands of demonstrators marched through the city, leading to numerous clashes with the police and about 600 arrests. Journalists were…

The Ivanovo District Court in Belarus has delivered today its verdict in the case of Sergei Gordievich, a journalist with the website 1reg.by. He was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for “insulting Lukashenko” and “defaming police officers”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns this wrongful conviction in the context of a new wave of repression of journalists and independent media in Belarus. Sergei Gordievich, a correspondent for the website 1reg.by, was accused of insulting and slandering the illegitimate president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, as well as insulting two police officers in a discussion on the…