Show your support to the charter and join the signatories! The EFJ Charter on Journalists Working Conditions is a guideline on working conditions, signed on 12 February 2019 in Belgrade (Serbia), by 14 journalists’ organisation representatives affiliated to the European Federation of Journalists and leading journalists’ unions from Western Balkans and Turkey. The Charter is open for signature to all journalists organisations, private or public media companies or authorities willing to commit to improve the working conditions and reinforce the labour rights of journalists and media workers in Europe, to fight against censorship and to promote free access to information and sources. The Charter contains 10…

More than 60 participants from 23 European countries attended the final conference on ‘how to manage change in the media’ from the unions’ and newsrooms’ perspectives. It took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 10-11 October 2019. Co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in Thessaloniki, the Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers (ESIEMTH), the conference concluded a two-year project (2017-2019) whose objective was to help journalists’ organisations in adapting practices to the news industry and in strengthening their union capacity, through a series of five workshops (see below). The exchange of best practices and…

Wednesday 16 October 2019 will mark two years since the brutal assassination of Malta’s best-known investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Although three men have now been formally charged with her murder, a date for their trial has yet to be set while those who ordered her killing remain at large. To honour Daphne Caruana Galizia’s memory and to continue calling for justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ),  the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint FIDH-OMCT programme), Reporters Without Borders (RSF)…

Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik was arrested on 3 October in her hotel room in the Iranian capital Teheran. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) joined their Russian affiliates in urging Iran to clarify the reasons for her arrest. In the absence of evidence, the EFJ calls for the journalist’s immediate release. Yulia Yuzik had her passport confiscated by the police as she entered Teheran airport on 3 October and was told she would get it back on her return. She was arrested later in her hotel room by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for allegedly working for…

AGEMI (Advancing Gender Equality in Media Industries) is an online resource which provides a range of helpful materials for media practitioners and everyone interested in progressing gender equality. You will find 100+ examples of good practices in a searchable database (Resources Bank of Good Practices), interviews with journalists and gender experts (GEM Talks) and a set of learning resources (GEM Learn) on topics including representation, advocacy, language, technology and safety. The moving image resources have professional subtitles in English, French and Spanish and can also be accessed via AGEMI’s You Tube channel, AGEMI Project. All the resources are free to download…

The National Television and Radio broadcasting council of Ukraine, the media regulatory authority, has revoked all digital licences granted to independent broadcaster Channel 112. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) joined their affiliate the National Union of Journalists in Ukraine (NUJU) in condemning a decision that threatens press freedom and the livelihood of hundreds of media workers. On 26 September, the Ukrainian media regulator revoked the digital licences of the 5 television companies belonging to Channel 112.  According to the regulator, they had violated the programming concept of broadcasting for several years, despite the fact that they had been warne Channel…

Both German affiliates, the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) and the Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union (dju in ver.di) started on Wednesday 18 an unprecedented trade union action (warning strikes) at the ARD stations in several German Länder. Around 3000 employees of the German public service media are taking part nationwide. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent a strong message of solidarity to striking media workers. The reason is the upcoming collective bargaining round, in which an agreement between the positions of the management and the unions seems a long way off. “Today’s strikes, demonstrations and actions are so far unique in…

Along with 21 other organisations, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) co-signed an open letter sent to the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, who is starting her five-year term of office on 18 September 2019. Dear Secretary-General, On behalf of the undersigned organisations, we warmly congratulate you on your appointment as the new Secretary-General of the Council of Europe. We are motivated by our experience and understanding of the worsening of the environment for journalists and free expression across Europe to ask you to make sure that your commitment to democracy, the rule of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed on 17 September the new mandate of the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) working group, renamed “Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group”. Chaired by the Dutch MEP Sophie In’t Veld (Renew Europe), the LIBE group will focus on threats to democracy, fight against corruption, rule of law and fundamental rights in the European Union. The group was first set up in June 2018 in the aftermath of the murders of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak. The LIBE committee report, published in November 2018 following…

Georgian main opposition TV channel Rustavi 2 faced mass resignations after the new management has fired several prominent journalists and producers in early September. The Independent Association of Georgian Journalists (IAGJ) warns against a clear attempt at political control over the media in Georgia and denounces the inaction of the international community to improve media pluralism in the country. Rustavi 2 is one of the most watched TV channels in Georgia and was once known as the main opposition television company, close to the United National Movement party. Since the new shareholder Kibar Khalvashi named his lawyer Paata Salia as…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have today welcomed the pre-trial release of RIA Novosti journalist, Kirill Vyshinsky, in Kyiv, Ukraine. The release came after the IFJ-EFJ have expressed several times their concerns over the long-lasting pre-trial detention of Vyshinsky. In May 2018, the Ukrainian security services raided the office of RIA Novosti in Ukraine and arrested its bureau chief and journalist, Kirill Vyshinsky, on charges of high treason. In July 2018, Vyshinsky was given additional charges of illegal handling of weapons. His pre-trial detention has been extended several times. On 19 July 2019, Vyshynsky appeared…

UPDATE: After 19 days of hunger strike, Pavlović interrupted the protest after meeting with the President of Serbia, who promised to contact the relevant institutions in the next ten days to resolve the problems of the independent regional TV Kanal 9, in accordance with the law.   Maja Pavlović, the owner of the independent regional TV Kanal 9 in Serbia, has been on hunger strike for 14 days to protest against the economic pressure the station facing the broadcaster. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their Serbian affiliates UNS, NUNS, SINOS, in backing Maja Pavlović’s demands. With…

UPDATE: The journalists Ahmet Kanbal, Mehmet Şah Oruç, Rojda Aydın, Nurcan Yalçın and Halime Parlak were released on August 26. Tunahan Turhan, a reporter for the Etkin news agency (ETHA), was detained while he was preparing to cover a demonstration in protest of the government-appointed trustees. Tunahan Turhan and Taylan Özgür Öztaş were released on August 23 under judicial control measures.   At least seven journalists were taken in custody on Tuesday 20 August after reporting on protests taking place in three southeast Turkish cities, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, as well as in Istanbul. The European and International Federations of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and a coalition of seven media freedom and journalists’ organisations are calling on Russian authorities to immediately stop the harassment of journalists who have been covering the recent protests in Moscow. Since the electoral authorities rejected several opposition candidates for September’s city council elections, protesters have taken to the streets of Moscow on four consecutive Saturdays. Russian authorities have responded with threats, violence, and detentions. Journalists who have been reporting on the protests have consistently been targeted. On 27 July 2019, two journalists suffered broken noses after being struck by police, one received injuries to…

Bulgaria will elect a new Prosecutor General this autumn and a series of statements made by public officials against the press have raised journalists’ concerns about the process. The IFJ/EFJ join its affiliate the Union of Bulgarian Journalist (UBJ) in calling for better protection of the rights of journalists and the media. A new Attorney General will be elected in Bulgaria on 24th October. The only person nominated as a candidate for the position is the current Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev who has expressed his opposition to the separation of powers in Bulgaria. UBJ reports that Geshev has repeatedly been the focus of public and media…

Update: On 25 July, the District Court in Warsaw ordered to stop the distribution of the sticker ‘LGBT Free Zone’ attached to ‘Gazeta Polska’. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Tomasz Sakiewicz, called the court’s decision “fake news” and announced to refuse the withdrawal. Instead he warned shop owners via Twitter that anyone who “will hide the paper or the sticker, we will sue them.” The Polish weekly Gazeta Polska announced on 17 July plans to distribute “LGBT-free zone” stickers to its readers in its next issue. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) strictly denounce an ‘irresponsible attitude” that…