To mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges world governments to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the world of work and help reduce the “unacceptable” level of violence against women journalists. Convention 190 was adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on 10th June 2019 and is now in the process of ratification by Member States. The IFJ and other Global Unions Federations have been battling for several years in support of a convention that would outlaw gender-based violence at work. According to IFJ statistics, 65% of women journalists have…

Politico Europe revealed on 2 March that internal emails were sent to Hungarian state media staff to inform about new editorial rules when reporting about Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, “sensitive topics” and when quoting human rights organisations’ reports. The instructions were dated from the second half of 2019. According to the emails, these new rules require staff to request permission before writing on Greta Thunberg and to send draft content for approval from “higher up” ahead of publication on migration, EU politics, terrorism, church issues. They also explicitly prevent journalists from mentioning reports from Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. The European Federation…

Download the joint statement Physical attacks, online harassment and censorship – In recent days, media freedom organisations have shed light on threats against journalists reporting on the arrival of migrants into Greece. These attacks are taking place in a context of violence against migrants and those supporting them, such as NGOs and self-organised groups. They restrict the ability of journalists to work safely and inform citizens about the humanitarian crisis taking place at the borders of the European Union (EU). A safe environment is essential for journalists to perform their role as watchdogs of democracy. The current situation in Greece…

Last week Swedish citizen and book publisher Gui Minhai was sentenced in China to ten years in prison for espionage. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in calling on the Chinese government to free Gui Minhai. Minhai is a book publisher who was running a publishing house in Hong Kong. He went missing in Thailand in October 2015 and later turned up imprisoned in China on suspicion of illegal business operation – the charges against him changed several times. According to media reports, a court in Ningbo said on Tuesday…

March 1st marks a new chapter in the support for journalists under threat – it is the start of the Europe-wide rapid response mechanism (RRM) for violations of press and media freedom. The RRM is conducted by a consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig (ECPMF). The Mechanism is designed to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of press and media freedom in certain EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The consortium consists of the ECPMF, ARTICLE 19, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Institute for Applied…

Article originally published on journo.com Google should reconsider its decision to fund a “partisan” and “manipulative” Turkish media group  through its news innovation challenge, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has said yesterday in an open letter. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has backed the call saying that “Google should stop funding unethical media organisations that do not respect the principles of ethical journalism and the worker rights of journalists”. The Google News Initiative (GNI) announced the Demiroren Media Group as the only Turkish applicant selected to be funded through GNI Innovation Challenges, stirring an outcry among Turkey’s embattled journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched on 4 February 2020 in the European Parliament its new publication on the transposition of the EU whistleblower directive. The event was co-organised by Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Whistleblowing International Network (WIN) and hosted by MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA). The author, International whistleblower lawyer Mary Inman, highlighted concrete recommendations on key articles. Entitled “Implementing the new Whistleblower directive: a transposition guide for journalists“, it aims to provide journalists’ organisations with information on how the directive may affect their profession and highlights areas where further outreach efforts are needed at the national level. In…

NEW DEADLINE TO APPLY: 20 MAY Application form Are you a young media professional eager to gain skills, boost your career, test your ideas, and expand your network? Stars4Media is an exchange and training programme for young media professionals (“rising stars”) between cooperating media organisations, to accelerate media innovation and cross-border coverage in Europe.  Stars4Media will encourage innovation through skill-building activities between paired media organisations to test ideas, produce contents and develop initiatives around 4 strategic themes.  Who are we looking for ? Participants of this project will be young working media professionals (“rising stars”) with 2-10 years of media…

A court extended the provisional detention of Daghestani newspaper Chernovik’s editor Abdulmumin Gadzhiev until 13 March 2020. The Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) called on the authorities for his immediate release, given that the charges against him are baseless. Gadzhiev was arrested on 14 June 2019 by the security services of the Republic of Dagestan on terrorism charges. According to JMWU, the case is based on a testimony of a witness obtained under torture. Abdulmumin Gadzhiev faces up to 20 years in prison. As the Russian government systematically prohibits all forms of protest, except solitary pickets, journalists in solidarity from…

The Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) hold a press conference today in Skopje to announce their new collaboration with Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, NGO Onlimit Media and Vidi Vaka portal, on two major texts for journalists’ labour rights. The four parties signed the Charter on journalists’ working conditions and the draft Fair Working Contract for journalists and media workers in digital media. By doing so, they commit to respect all journalists’ and media workers’ labour rights, their freedom of expression as well as ethical and professional standards.…

There is no gender equality in the Croatian audiovisual sector. This was the conclusion of a European event hosted by EFJ affiliates the Union of Croatian Journalists’ Union and the Association of Croatian Journalists in Zagreb on 30 January. Croatian film producers, performers, broadcasters, film directors, journalists and researchers convened to share experiences and key findings and pointed at the lack of female presence in audiovisual content as well as in leading roles. According to a recent ILO report published in March 2019 women represent 39% of the global workforce, but make only 27% in management positions. Despite the feminisation…

Are press councils the last defences against the falling confidence in journalism? On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the Belgian French press council (Conseil de déontologie journalistique – CDJ) organised a European forum in Brussels, on 21-22 January, to raise awareness about the role of press councils. The event addressed in particular, on a panel, the stakes of ethics dealing with political interference and pressure on journalists. Threats on journalists are increasing in Europe under various forms while greatly impacting media freedom, reminded Ernest Sagaga, Head of Human Rights at the International Federation of Journalists. The Council of Europe…

On January 20, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has unveiled a draft law on combating disinformation and regulating media activity.  According to the minister of Culture, Volodymyr Borodyansky, the text aims to respond to Russian disinformation. However, the journalistic community believes that this initiative is likely to be used as a tool for harassing Ukrainian journalists. In particular, the Nation Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) warns that the law would legalise state interference in the journalistic profession and restrict media workers’ rights. The document outlines new rules on media regulation and journalistic activity. It foresees criminal…

In recent weeks, there has been an escalation in the incidences of violence by police against journalists, especially in France. There could not be a better time to establish a dialogue between the groups and to work towards stopping the violence. This is why the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has joined the French Union of Journalists of the Confédération générale du travail (SNJ-CGT), to launch its Press Freedom Police Codex in Paris. The codex was developed by ECPMF and partner organisations based on research conducted across Europe on the situation of journalists. ECPMF teamed up with…

The undersigned international and regional press freedom and journalism groups welcome the start of the murder trial this week against the suspected killers of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírova. The suspects on trial at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok, Slovakia, include the alleged mastermind, Slovak businessman Marian Kočner, who prosecutors say ordered Kuciak’s murder in retaliation for his journalistic work. A confidante of Kočner’s, Alena Zsuzsová, is charged with having arranged the murder via a middleman, Zoltán Andruskó, who in turn contracted two alleged hitmen, cousins Tomáš Szabó and Miroslav Marček. Andruskó previously admitted guilt…

The presenter of the Italian Sanremo 2020 festival, broadcast by the Italian public television RAI, caused a wave of indignation in Italy after he praised his co-hosts with sexist comments. The presenter of the Sanremo music festival, Amedeo Umberto Rita Sebastiani, also known as Amadeus, introduced his co-hosts saying they were chosen for being “very beautiful” and referring to one of them as a “sexy icon”. He added that Francesca Sofia Novello, who is a model, is a “super beautiful” woman, and praised “her ability to be close to a great man (in reference to Valentino Rossi, her partner) by…