Italy: Solidarity with harassed TV reporter Greta Beccaglia

Journalist of Toscana TV Greta Beccaglia was groped by a football fan while she was reporting live from the Empoli vs Fiorentina game in Empoli on 27 November 2021. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) joined its Italian affiliate, the FNSI, in strongly condemning this intolerable attack and calling for solidarity with Greta Beccaglia. The female journalist was interviewing fans pouring out of the Empoli stadium after the match when one fan approached her and slapped her on the backside – live on Toscana TV. Beccaglia reacted calmly, saying “Sorry, you can’t do this,” and professionally continued her…

MFRR to hold press freedom mission to Greece

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) will hold an online fact-finding mission to Greece in the first half of December to assess increasing concerns about media freedom and the safety of journalists in the country. The online mission will be led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and implemented together with its partners in the MFRR, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and representatives from other international press freedom groups. The delegation will meet with a range of domestic stakeholders, including journalists and editors, journalists’ unions and associations, civil society and academics, and representatives of…

Switzerland: concerns over Le Courrier and journalism in the Gandur’s case

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) joined its affiliate in Switzerland Syndicom in calling the Court’s decision to disavowed Swiss’s newspaper Le Courrier. The decision, not only heavy with consequences for the editorial staff of the independent Geneva newspaper, shows there is a real threat when it comes to the future of investigative journalism.  Following a first victory at the criminal level and in the first instance at the civil level in Switzerland, Le Courrier was disavowed on 23 November 2021 by the judges in the case that opposing it to the billionaire Jean Claude Gandur that started six…

Poland: Journalist must not be jailed for refusing to disclose source

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in calling on the District Prosecutor’s Office in the Polish city of Gdansk to drop its legal case against Gazeta Wyborcza reporter Katarzyna Włodkowska and to respect the journalist’s right of source confidentiality protected under the European Convention of Human Rights. If the prosecutor issues a second demand for Włodkowska to reveal the identity of her source for a report on the investigation into the assassination of the city’s mayor, and she refuses to comply, she could face a prison sentence of up…