The building housing the offices of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), as well as media outlets and printing houses, in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, may collapse due to the damage caused following a Russian missile strike. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) denounced the attack and expressed their support to the Kharkiv NUJU branch and the workers who are no longer able to continue their work. According to NUJU, an IFJ/EFJ affiliate, several weeks were needed to carry out checks and precise damage control following the rocket attack, which took place at night on 31 July…

1000 journalists are set to strike after two days of negotiations between IFJ-EFJ affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Reach, the UK’s largest national and regional news publisher, broke down without a deal. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have backed the workers’ demands for a fair pay rise and fully support the strike, which starts on Wednesday 31 August. NUJ members across Reach titles will strike on Wednesday 31st August. Union representatives unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the chief executive, and also agreed to add an additional day of strike action to…

A Polish court extended the pre-trial detention of Spanish journalist Pablo González for the second time on 23 August, meaning he will spend up to a further 3 months in jail. The journalist, who was covering the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Ukrainian border, was arrested on 28 February in the south-western city of Rzeswów, accused of being “an agent of Russian intelligence”. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and their Spanish affiliates urge the authorities to release González without further delay, and ensure he will receive a fair trial. “The Polish court has ordered González to be remanded…

Today, 24 August, marks both the Ukrainian day of Independence and six months since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. On this occasion, the partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) reiterate our continued solidarity with the journalists and media workers who risk their lives and safety to bring the world independent, balanced, and accurate information from the frontlines. The killing, kidnapping, and other attacks on journalists must stop and those responsible must face justice for their crimes under national and international law. The safety of media workers is essential to inform the world about the realities…

Local journalism is in a dire situation. To address the problem, the Journalists’ Union of Germany (DJV) has launched a project with the aim to revive local journalists. The project highlights the important role of reporting exactly where people don’t expect (but journalists truly find) the biggest headlines: in the province. Far from big media metropolises, in small towns, communities or villages, the so-called “Hinterland”. An increasing migration to the cities, financing difficulties that often end in fusion and not to forget the adaption of modern working techniques and consumption patterns, are problems which most local journalists are familiar with.…

The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) denounce the obvious misuse of public funds by Patricia Schlesinger, former director of Berlin’s public broadcaster Radio Berlin Brandenburg (RBB). We welcome her instant dismissal while demanding a thorough investigation and calling for improved accountability in publicly funded media. On 15 August, the Rundfunkrat, which supervises the broadcaster, decided to instantly dismiss Ms. Schlesinger following her decision to step back from her position as director on 7 August. The dismissal was made in response to a wave of allegations related to mismanagement of public funds. Among the allegations are the allocation…

EFJ President Maja Sever reflects on the attack on her on 1 August in the bay of the island of Tijat in Croatia. The story is quite simple. The inhabitants of the village where I spent my summer holidays, on a small island on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, are revolted by what they describe as the devastation, usurpation and illegal use of the bay of a neighbouring islet. They are fighting to preserve the site through legal means, but the atmosphere has been tense and unpleasant for several years. Only recently has the story made its way to the…

Gleb Golovchenko runs the Ukrainian television company TAK TV, in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv. In February, Russian forces attempted to invade the city. Despite heavy bombardment, the attack was repulsed. The front line today is scarcely ten kilometres away, but Golovchenko has continued to broadcast – something that has only been possible, he says, because of help from the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ). “The bulletproof vest I was given has saved my life,” he says. “We see missiles and shooting every day, so all our reporters need extra protection. I have…

The newly elected Steering Committee of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was keen to organise an online meeting with the leaders and members of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). The two organisations discussed the programme of support for Ukrainian journalists and its future developments. The EFJ will focus its efforts on ensuring that assistance to Ukrainian journalists has long-term sustainable results. This is one of the main conclusions of the online meeting organised by NUJU, with the participation of Maja Sever, EFJ President, Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary, Sergiy Tomilenko, NUJU President, Lina Kushch, First Secretary…

German public broadcaster RBB has been rocked by a scandal surrounding its former director, Patricia Schlesinger, who is accused of embezzlement and misuse of her position as head of the Berlin-based media group. On Sunday, Schlesinger stepped down after accusations that included a questionable use of funds, including controversial allocation of consultancy contracts. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) called on the German judicial authorities to carry out a proper investigation into the suspicions of corruption. The allegations go back a number of weeks to when the German news portal Business Insider wrote about “inconsistencies” in the business dealings of…

Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova was officially charged with “spreading false information” about the army on Wednesday 10 August. She was arrested today and will spend the night in pre-trial detention in Moscow. She faces “up to ten years in prison” under a new article of the Russian Criminal Code, introduced after the start of the war in Ukraine. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemned the judicial harassment of the journalist and demanded her immediate release. Marina Ovsiannikova is famous for interrupting a Russian state TV news programme and has already received two administrative fines for her anti-war stance in…

In Belarus, since the fraudulent presidential election of 9 August 2020, journalists have faced hundreds of arrests and detentions. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Belarusian affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in condemning the indiscriminate repression by the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The EFJ and BAJ demand the immediate release of the 30 journalists and media workers currently imprisoned in Belarus. 9 August 2022 is the second anniversary of the most recent presidential election in the Republic of Belarus. Two years ago, instead of recognizing the democratic choice, the authorities overturned it through the use…

We, the undersigned free expression, press freedom, and journalists’ organisations, express support for The Shift News as it faces an all-out legal battle against 40 freedom of information (FOI) lawsuits brought by 40 government entities in Malta. These appeal lawsuits pose a serious threat to the country’s already worrying freedom of information and press freedom climate. We call for these cases to be immediately dropped and for the government of Malta to fully comply with its FOI obligations going forward. In July 2021, Malta’s Data Protection Commissioner ruled in favour of 40 FOI requests filed by independent media outlet The…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the legal actions aimed at muzzling and intimidating the press in the context of the scandal of illegal government practices in Greece, in particular the tapping of journalists and politicians. The EFJ condemns the abusive legal proceedings launched on Friday 5 August by Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigning adviser and nephew of Greek Prime Minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis, against journalists Thanasis Koukakis, Nikolas Leontopoulos and Thodoris Chondrogiannos, as well as against the website Reporters United and the newspaper EfSyn. “We demand the immediate withdrawal of these complaints, which are only intended to intimidate the press and…

Freelance rates in Belgium have been stagnating for three years, according to a survey conducted in May and June 2022 by the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists (AJP). In a context of rising inflation (8% expected), the gap between employed journalists, who benefit from annual salary indexation, and freelancers is widening. The journalists’ organisation will make the remuneration of freelancers a priority from September. Journalism is one of the few sectors where the clients – the media – set the rates. The different calculation practices (billing per sign, per word, per line, per article, per day) make it difficult, to…

After a series of British journalists, Russia has banned, on Monday morning, the Danish public television correspondent in Moscow, Matilde Kimer. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call for the reversal of these decisions. On the morning of 1 August, on arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, Matilde Kimer had passed through passport control but was arrested after collecting her luggage. At an airport office, she was handed a document stating that she was denied entry to the Russian Federation “for security and defence reasons” and should therefore be deported immediately. After a five-hour wait at the airport in Moscow,…