Labour Day 2024 : EFJ calls on employers, decision-makers and the public to stand up for journalism
On Labour Day 2024, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling on a broad alliance of civil society – readers and listeners, journalists’ organisations and associations, academics, and media freedom NGOs – to stand up for journalism and convince employers and decision makers that the protection of journalists and journalism is essential to democracy.
“Europe’s information ecosystem is at a crossroads. Misinformation and filter bubbles, oligarchic media capture and unprecedented attacks on journalists amid their subjection to precarious working conditions — all are leading to a brain drain from the industry. This could have a devastating impact on the quality of journalism and media pluralism,” said EFJ Director Renate Schroeder.
The EFJ launched its new project “Stand Up for Journalism (SUJ)” on 22 April 2024, which has the objective of improving the capacity of journalists’ organisations to address challenges in journalists’ working conditions brought about by disinformation, transformations in digital media and declines in traditional revenue models for the news media sector.
The project partners include national journalists’ organisations from Denmark (DJ), France (SNJ-CGT), Serbia (NUNS), Montenegro (TUMM), and Turkey (TGS). “We urgently need to give back to journalism the dignity it deserves,” said TGS General Secretary, Ayse Banu Tuna. “Good journalism is the only way to combat disinformation and propaganda.”
This Labour Day, the SUJ project partners are focused on a range of topics, including safety of journalists, ageism, appeals to ensure diversity in the workplace, and calls against the poverty of journalists whose average salary is around the national minimum wage in some European countries. The 2023 Media Pluralism Monitor Report found that working conditions also remained problematic in several of the countries assessed, with journalists being forced to become self-employed.
“In a world where dis- and misinformation can be diffused easier than ever before, it is extremely important that we all come together to support journalism and journalists,” said Allan Boye Thulstrup, Vice President of the Danish journalists’ union and EFJ Steering Committee member. “Without journalism there is no democracy, and there will be no one to keep the ruling powers accountable.”
The Stand Up for Journalism project also brings support from social partners: the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Eurocadre who will cooperate on common issues such as the safety of journalists and the psycho-social risks facing journalists. The project is part of EFJ’s continuous work to provide capacity-building projects for its members. It started on 1 April 2024 and will continue for 18 months. For more information please visit https://europeanjournalists.org/stand-up-for-journalism/.
