More than 250 days have now passed since the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) last received state funding for carrying out its public service mission from the government of Janez Janša, which currently presides over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since the beginning of the year, the STA has been forced to operate without public funds guaranteed to it under two separate laws while a contractual dispute manufactured by the Government Communication Office (UKOM) is played out with the aim of forcing the agency to submit to greater government control. As the Slovenian government took over the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today strongly condemn the attack on the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO) by Covid-19 deniers and anti-vaccination protesters last Friday.  At around 8:30pm on 3 September 2021, protesters broke into the RTVSLO studio in Ljubljana. The group of about 20 protesters, believed to be from the OPS group (Aware Residents of Slovenia), entered the building and managed to break into a newsroom. The group was demanding airtime on RTVSLO platforms to share their anti-vaccine views and an end to what they alleged was…

ABOUT THE COURSE  The safety of journalists has become ever more important in recent years with an increasing number of journalists facing threats, harassment and injuries in relation to their daily work. While some threats require a broader political and cultural change among multi-stakeholders, others can be mitigated by individuals and organisational level by journalists and media organisations. With this in mind, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) has developed this course to address individual journalists with the aims to enhance their personal capacities in making aware of operational media associated…