Journalists at sports newspaper ‘L’Equipe’ and France TV channels have taken strike action in a dispute over a job protection plan and dismissals. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) stand in solidarity with striking workers and their French affiliates. France’s public TV, France Télévisions, has seen strikes over the past two weeks at its headquarters in Paris, due to the unfair dismissal of four sound illustrators by video-conference, staff opposition to the arbitrary redefinition of working conditions and the excessive workload. In parallel, the unions are to hold a 24-hour strike on 18 January due to the regionalization project at the France 3 network, which was planned without prior consultation with the unions. ‘L’Equipe’…

There can be no media freedom if journalists cannot work in decent conditions. 2020 has been a challenging year for many people from across all walks of life. This is particularly so for essential workers such as journalists. Across Europe, working conditions for journalists have declined drastically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many have lost their jobs while others have put their health at risk reporting from the frontline of the health crisis without adequate safety measures and equipment. Some have to adapt quickly to working from home without proper equipment and support of childcare. Thisreport, produced by the European…

During the health crisis, journalists have been playing a crucial role. When most of us are required to stay home, they act as our eyes and ears on the ground bringing trustworthy and reliable information to us. Yet, in some European countries journalists are still not considered as essential workers impeding their ability to work. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched, in partnership with its affiliates in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, a social media campaign to raise awareness about the need to regard journalists as essential workers.  In the region, the COVID-19 pandemic meant for…

The Council for Mass Media in Finland published today a new report on self-regulation in the emerging era of news automation. While news automation and personalisation have become more common in recent years, it has received little attention from Press and Media Councils which have not faced major ethical problems so far. However, the report suggests that in the future self-regulatory guidance on news automation is likely to be needed.  The report introduces the present state of affairs in news automation and discusses what ethical considerations it raises. Based on a European-wide research project, the key takeaways are as follows:…

The Danish government agreed on 6 December with the majority of the parliament to stop financial cuts of 122 million euros in support of public service media over the next four years. In addition, the government proposed to increase support for the media sector by providing an additional annual budget of 20 millions euros. The minister of Culture stressed: media are important for our democracy. “This is a great day for journalism and the media in Denmark. Cuts in public service media would have caused dramatic changes in DR (the Danish Broadcasting Corporation) also resulting in many new unemployed journalists.…

A coalition of about 60 non-governmental organisations from across Europe published on 1 December 2020 a proposal for an EU-anti SLAPP directive. This text is the result of several months of work involving civil society organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and national journalists’ trade unions, to urge policy makers to protect public watchdogs such as journalists, rights defenders, activists and whistleblowers from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). SLAPP suits are a form of legal harassment. Pursued by law firms on behalf of powerful individuals and organisations who seek to avoid public scrutiny, their aim is to…

As the vote on the first reading of the “Global Security” law achieved a majority in the French National Assembly on Tuesday 24 November, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), as well as other representatives from the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) called on the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, to withdraw three articles from the text, and on journalists and democracy activists to demonstrate on Saturday 28 November. On Monday 23 November, a coalition composed of the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), together with their French affiliates, the SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalists, and several journalists’ societies,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the International Press Institute (IPI) and the partner organisation of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in sending an open letter on 17 November to the government of the Czech Republic raising concerns about its side-lining of critical media during press conferences. The letter comes after journalists from certain outlets, including one of the country’s biggest independent media outlet Forum 24, have been denied accreditation to attend press conferences since March 2020 without further explanation. “We note that this worrying situation persists despite recent pledges by both the Prime Minister and the Ministry…

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), with French unions SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes, are concerned about a legislative proposal currently pending in the French parliament, which would make it illegal to disseminate images of law enforcement officers of the national police and gendarmerie. We call on the members of Parliament to delete the proposed text. Legislative proposal No. 3452 on global security was introduced by Members of Parliament of the presidential majority on 20 October 2020. The text proposes a host of legislative…

Freelance journalists in France (called ‘Pigistes’ in French) will have better access to maternity and paternity leave, sick leave and disability allowance. The national health insurance office (CNAM) gave its green light on 7 October for more freelance journalists to benefit from social security daily allowances. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in France (SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes) in welcoming this new step towards more fairness between journalists and the different types of remuneration. Until now, ‘pigistes’ had to prove that they had earned at least 20,600€ (gross) in the last 12 months in order to be eligible…

The Croatian journalists’ trade union and professional associations (TUCJ and CJA) announced last week that a new wave of vexatious lawsuits (SLAPP) is hitting Croatian media and journalists. The dozen of SLAPPs targets Telegram news portal, Virovitica.net, Index and journalist Dora Kršul. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Croatia in denouncing an attempt to intimidate and silence investigative journalism. The lawsuits are initiated by former top politicians – former Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić and former Member of Parliament Branimir Glavaš – as well as University of Zagreb Rector Damir Boras. Nine lawsuits filed by former Agriculture…

What can press councils be used for? A European promotional video co-funded by the European Commission with the support of the Conseil de déontologie journalistique (CDJ – Belgium), is launched today by all European press councils and their partner organisations. It recalls the role and assets of these particular bodies often unknown to the general public pointing one key message : if you want ethical quality information, work with us!   At a time when pieces of information coming from all sources are jostling around without us always knowing whether we can rely on it or not, at a time when distrust of journalists has become the rule, press councils…

Turkey’s press freedom crisis is worsening amid growing state capture of media, the lack of independence of regulatory institutions, and a new social media law designed to clamp down on the remaining spaces for free comment, a coalition of 11 international press freedom, journalism and human rights groups, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warned following a four-day mission to the country last week. They also flagged the continued jailing and prosecution of journalists as well as ongoing concerns over the safety of journalists and judicial independence. The coalition held hybrid online/offline meetings last week in Istanbul and Ankara…

The EU training and exchange programme Stars4Media has delivered its promises despite the COVID-19 outbreak. During one year, the pilot project involved 105 media professionals from 42 media outlets in 17 European countries. At the occasion of the Media4Europe conference, which took place on 14 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) awarded the most outstanding Initiatives, among the 21 completed. “You are all winners, stressed EFJ director and jury member Renate Schroeder as the programme already selected 21 Initiatives in Spring 2020. Together with the jury members, we decided to…

The latest compromise of the German Presidency on the draft regulation on the proposal for a regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online raises great concerns regarding media freedom and fundamental rights among media and journalists’ organisations. The draft is currently in tripartite discussions between the Council of Ministers under the German Presidency, the European Parliament and the EU Commission with the aim to come to a final adopted text before the end of this year.  In the view of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and media organisations including the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), European Magazine Media Association…

On 8 October, the Armenian authorities decided to amend the martial law declared on 27 September 2020, which from now on prohibits the publication of reports criticising the actions of the government, officials and local bodies. It also gives increased power to the police to give fines, freeze assets and request removal of content from media outlets. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined its affiliate in Armenia in denouncing a blatant violation of media freedom in a context where non-partisan information is crucial. The amendments refer in particular to the publication of reports “criticising”, “refuting actions of…