Giorgos Karaivaz, a veteran Greek television journalist who specialised in reporting on crime was shot dead on April 9 near his home in Athens. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have expressed their alarm at the cold-blooded murder of a journalist and urged the authorities to investigate what appears to be a planned ambush and targeted killing. According to preliminary reports, Giorgos Karaivaz, who worked for private TV station Star and also ran news blog bloko.gr, was shot several times by two men on a motorbike after parking his car near his home, in Athens, at…

Journalist Morgan Large discovered last week that her car had been sabotaged, with two bolts removed from a wheel. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) have strongly condemned the attack and urged the French authorities to investigate the case immediately and take measures to ensure the safety of journalists and freedom of information in the region. Morgan Large works for the bilingual French-Breton Radio Kreiz Breizh and is known for her investigations into the agriculture sector in the Brittany region. The sabotage of her car parked close to her house is the latest act of intimidation against her…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined today the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in condemning the violence directed at journalists and media workers on Sunday 28 March in several Dutch cities and calling for increased protection. On Sunday 28 March, several journalists were reporting from churches in the towns of Krimpen aan den Ijssel and Urk about the gathering of hundreds of churchgoers despite strict anti-coronavirus regulations. Hostile and aggressive behaviour from individual churchgoers, sometimes leading to physical violence, soon followed and made it very difficult for journalists to continue their reporting. In Krimpen, Jacco van Giessen, a…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) to end the practice of abusive lawsuits against journalists and human rights defenders. The  CASE website was officially launched on Friday 26 March 2021 in an event hosted by Greenpeace EU. Thirty media freedom and environmental organisations across Europe, including the EFJ, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Project Journalists, Greenpeace, Transparency International, have united to work to expose legal harassment, protect SLAPP victims and advocate for comprehensive protective measures and reform at the European level. Generally pursued by wealthy and powerful litigants, SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against…

The Norwegian government has decided it will require a mandatory quarantine of 10 days for all foreign journalists on assignment in Norway. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Norwegian Union of Journalists (NJ), in its call for an urgent amendment to a measure that will make it almost impossible for foreign journalists to report in Norway. The NJ, along with national media and editors associations wrote to the government calling for exemptions for foreign journalists on assignment in Norway from the country’s Covid-19 regulations. According to the NJ, the quarantine obligation is problematic because it will make it virtually…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today in strongly condemning the civil defamation lawsuit launched against the editor-in-chief of Poland’s biggest daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza by the serving Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Our organisations consider this to be yet another example of the Justice Ministry’s use of lawsuits as a tool for pressuring and financially draining the newspaper, which is one of the staunchest critics of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS). We call directly on the Minister, who is also the Prosecutor-General of Poland, to immediately withdraw the lawsuit and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined nine other media freedom groups in writing to the Serbian president Vučić and prime minister Brnabić to express serious concerns over the lack of a resolute government response to the dangerous smear campaign against independent news outlet KRIK. The muted response from government leaders was the main catalyst for four of the nine non-state members of the newly-established Working Group for the Security and Protection of Journalists to withdraw, undermining its work and posing questions over trust in the body. Read the letter.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined twenty-three organisations in expressing their solidarity with the Swedish business and finance publication, Realtid, its editor, and the two journalists being sued for defamation in London. Realtid are due before the High Court on 24 March for a two-day remote hearing that will decide whether England and Wales is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case to be heard. Realtid is being sued by Swedish businessman, Svante Kumlin, and his group of companies Eco Energy World (EEW), for eight articles that they published last year. Realtid had been investigating EEW ahead of an impending…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined five leading media freedom organisations in writing to the President of the European Commission to express shared and growing concerns over the situation for press freedom in Slovenia. 16/03/2021 Dear Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, CC: Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, CC: MEPs of the European Parliament Media Working Group   The undersigned press freedom and journalists’ organisations from across Europe are writing to express our sincere concern about the deteriorating situation for media freedom in Slovenia and the renewed attacks by the Prime Minister…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined MFRR partners in condemning the smear campaign aimed at the Network for Investigation of Crime and Corruption (KRIK) by pro-government media outlets that propagated the baseless and dangerous claim that KRIK has a ‘secret deal’ with Veljko Belivuk, a recently arrested leader of an organised crime group.  On 9th and 10th March, a number of pro-Government media outlets alleged that KRIK is coordinating with Belivuk to monitor or threaten the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić. Tabloid newspapers, including The Serbian Telegraph, Kurir and Alo published front-page articles that KRIK is Belivuk’s private media. Alo stated…

Ahead of a major debate at the European Parliament on efforts by governments to silence free media, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 18 other organisations in calling on the European Union to take decisive action to defend independent journalism and media freedom in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. —————– Statement to Members of the European Parliament ahead of the March 10 debate: ‘Government’s attempt to silence free media in Poland and in Hungary’ Dear Members of the European Parliament, Article 11 of the European Union’s Charter on Fundamental Rights is under threat as media freedom and media pluralism deteriorates alarmingly…

The Media4Europe summit, organised on 3 March 2021 by Europe’s Media Lab (Fondation Euractiv), called for greater collaboration between media professionals and media outlets. Publishers, EU policy makers, media and journalists’ representatives, including EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, discussed solutions to make the media sector more financially sustainable and close to citizens’ needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that journalists and reliable news information are more necessary than ever. It has also tested the weaknesses and limitations of most of the European media business models. The awareness at the European level is growing: “the health of the news media sector…

Registration The European Federation of Journalists invites you to attend the first MFRR Summit taking place online between 17th and 20th March. Locked Down: Protecting Europe’s Free Press will feature keynote speeches by Irene Khan and Věra Jourová, and bring together 32 journalists and experts from 16 countries to explore the threats facing media freedom in Europe across eight panels and two workshops. The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) monitors, tracks and responds to media freedom violations in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. In its first year, through Mapping Media Freedom, 378 alerts (with 1159 attacked persons or entities related…

A photographer for the regional daily L’Union, Christian Lantenois, was seriously injured on Saturday 27 February while covering tensions in the Croix-Rouge district of Reims. Lantenois is currently in the intensive care unit in Reims’ hospital in a serious condition. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/FIJ) strongly condemn this despicable act. An investigation has been opened for attempted murder. Christian Lantenois, 65 years old, went to Croix-Rouge on Saturday 27 February at around 3 pm in a car identifiable as belonging to the newspaper L’Union to cover the tensions in the district. The photographer was found shortly afterwards, in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 15 media freedom groups and associations in again urging the EU’s Competition Commissioner to swiftly address concerns over media market distortions in Hungary. The group notes the continuing deterioration of media pluralism in Central Europe and renew their call to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager to open a prompt investigation into pending state aid complaints. The Commission’s lack of enforcement of market rules in Hungary, the groups said, is not only allowing the situation there to worsen but now also empowering the deliberate distortion of the media market in Poland, with…

Kosovo Investigative journalist Visar Duriqi was left with a broken nose and teeth following an assault by three masked men on 25 February. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined their affiliate in Kosovo, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), in condemning the brutal attack. Visar Duriqi, a journalist at online news portal Insajderi, was on his way home after attending a live TV debate, shortly after midnight, when three unknown people wearing masks assaulted him in front of his apartment. Duriqi suffered severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. The police has launched an investigation…