A journalist of Radio Sarajevo was attacked and several journalists were threatened by a group of fans of the Football Club Sarajevo on the evening of September 27. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined its affiliate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BH Journalists, in demanding harsh sanctions against the assailants. After breaking into the newsroom, a group of hooligans harassed for more than two hours, including death threats, a radio reporter to remove an article about a fan who had been convicted to a five-year prison sentence for drug possession. He was then forced to call other editorial…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined their affiliate, the Union of Bulgarian Journalists (UBJ), to express support to the journalists of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) who are facing widespread pressure from their management.  The crisis in the Bulgarian public service media started with the dismissal of the longtime radio journalist and legal expert Sylvia Velikova and the five-hour broadcasting suspension of the BNR’s Horizont Channel on September 13.  During a hearing at the regulator (Council of Electronic Media – CEM) on the following days, the editorial board of the radio channel…

The #SilenceHate project kicked-off more than a year and a half ago, in April 2018, with a five-day ‘Media Camp’ in London. Thirteen young journalists were trained in the intricacies of how hate speech is used to target migrants, and what journalists can do to counter it. They went back to their home countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Poland and United Kingdom) with the objective to report and produced the stories that they pitched. Here are the journalists’ productions offering different formats such as photography, podcasts, videos, features, long form, and having a creative and innovative perspective of the migration…

Gordan Duhacek, a reporter for Index.hr, was arrested by Zagreb police at the airport when he was about to take a business flight on 16 September. Duhacek was eventually released and found guilty of insulting the police in one post on his Twitter feed, was charged with a symbolic fine of 100 euros, and has been prosecuted for another tweet under the base of an article of the Law on Offences against Public Order and Peace. The verdict of this last post would be delivered on Thursday. The journalist denounces that he was sprayed with tear gas on the floor and…

During the last years, the tension in the political debate between Catalonia and Spain has moved to the streets and journalists are suffering the consequences. The last case occurred on September 11, the day of the festivity of Catalonia, when one of the pro-independence demonstrations of 300 people in front of the Catalan Parliament became the scene of violence and altercations with members of the police and some journalists who were reporting on the event. Journalist Ángela García Romero was reporting for TVE (Televisión Española) the demonstration when a group of hooded people attacked her TV crew, first throwing some…

The Italian Journalists’ Union (FNSI – Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana) yesterday called for greater awareness when reporting about gender violence and in particular, femicides. This important wake-up call was published by the FNSI ‘Commission for equal opportunities’ whereas the headlines and news regarding the murder of a woman has raised controversy in Italy. The case of the murder of Elisa Pomarelli, near Piacenza, reached national news when the body was found after two weeks of intensive search that ended with the confession of a man, who said to be Pomarelli’s friend. The reports in newspapers, TV, radio stations and digital…

EFJ and the undersigned organisations call on the Montenegrin authorities to acquit investigative journalist Jovo Martinović, convicted for marijuana smuggling and criminal association and sentenced to 18 months in prison despite overwhelming evidence that his only links with organised crime were those of a reporter. A specialist in covering organised crime for such leading international media as The Economist, Financial Times, NPR, BBC and a winner of the 2018 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, Jovo Martinović was convicted to a 18-month prison sentence by the Montenegro high court on January 15, 2019 on charges of drug trafficking…

The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) sent along with other journalists and human rights organisations a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council member and observer states to raise the ongoing crisis for freedom of expression in Turkey. Read the letter below or click here to download the full letter in PDF. Excellencies, Ahead of the 42nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), we, the undersigned human rights and journalists’ organisations, call on your delegation to speak out and address the Turkish government’s repressive campaign against freedom of expression. The Council must…

On August 7, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court decided to uphold its charges against investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was accused of tax evasion. After she has been living under a probation sentence for three and a half years, the former correspondent of RadioFreeEurope / Radio Liberty seeked for an early termination of her probation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the court’s decision and demands Azerbaijani authorities to stop her repressions. Since 2010, Ismayilova had been writing on cases of corruption linked to the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s family, until she was imprisoned in 2014 after a government-driven smear…

On 11 August, the Russian national communications regulator Roskomnadzor published a statement demanding Google to prevent its video-sharing service Youtube from distributing information on the recent protests in Moscow. The agency said, it wants to prevent “advertising for unauthorized demonstrations”. Otherwise, countermeasures could be taken. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns this attempt of censorship and demands Russian authorities to respect the citizen’s right for information. “According to available information, several entities possessing YouTube channels have bought advertising instruments [such as push notifications] with the aim of distributing information about unsanctioned [illegal] mass events, including those aimed at disrupting…

German media’s legal departments see an increase of lawyer’s attempts to prevent journalists from reporting. That was found out by the new study “If you write that, I will sue you! Preventive strategies of lawyers against media”, published on 08 August. The research filed by the German Otto Brenner Foundation in cooperation with the “Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte” determined that legal departments receive an average of three preventive warnings per month. The strategy: “press law information letters” Knowing that they don’t have a legal right to prevent a media from publishing an article concerning their clients, lawyers have the common practice…

Freelance fees in the french-speaking Belgium haven’t developed for more than ten years. That reveals the latest inquiry “Les tarifs de la pige”, published on 05 August by our Belgian affiliate Association Générale des Journalistes Professionnels (AJP). The fourth edition of the study shows, some tariffs of freelance-journalists have remained on the same precarious level since it was first raised in 2007 – and some even dropped below. But it doesn’t have to be like that, says Sophie Lejoly, Deputy Secretary General of the AJP. Whether it’s newspapers, magazines, web editions, TV or radio, public or private media – the…

On 03 August, Moscow’s police has detained at least ten journalists covering a rally organized by opposition groups. Continuing the protest of 27 July, about 1500 people had gathered in the capital of Russia in order to demonstrate for fair elections to the city council. The European Federation of Jounalists (EFJ) and its affiliate, the Russian Federation of Journalists (RUJ), strongly condemn this violation of press freedom and demands the Russian authorities to respect the journalist’s right to report. According to Moscow police, about 600 people were arrested during the riots. Among these, there were at least twelve journalists and…

On 30 July, about a dozen men dressed in T-shirts with the inscription “Tradition and Order” violently entered the press center of the Ukrinform news agency in Kiev, Ukraine, during a press conference of parliamentary candidates. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its member National Union of Journalists of Ukrain (NUJU) in condemning the incident. After entering the building, the group broke the door to the press-hall and damaged the equipment and furniture. The group started to push and beat Ukrinform staff members. they also threw eggs and poured water on an independent candidate from the town of Pokrovsk…

21% of the Bosnian citizens share the opinion that attacks on journalists are justified, says a new report made for the needs of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Journalists’ Association (BH Journalists) and the Friedrich Erbert Foundation, published on 16 July. The study titled “Researching Media Freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019” reveals worrying trends in the attitude of the country’s citizens towards their media. In the last six years, BH Journalists has documented 121 cases of violence, 44 physical attacks, 21 death threats and 48 serious cases of harassment or verbal pressure. Yet violence against media workers is increasingly accepted in Bosnia…

In June 2019, the S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies published the book “Media, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy in the EU and Beyond”. The research paper was edited by Dr. Angelos Giannakopoulos, and gives insights into the media landscape of several European countries. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) contributed to this publication with a chapter titled “Media, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy: Journalists under pressure in Europe”, written by EFJ-Director Renate Schroeder. The book presents the authoritarian media system of Hungary, as well as the role of the state in media ownership in Poland. It…