The EFJ affiliate in Sweden, Svenska Journalistförbundet, has announced the signature of a new collective agreement with Almega Medieföretagen covering all freelance journalists and media workers. “This agreement is an important step forward to strengthen the position of freelance journalists in Sweden,” said Jonas Nordling, President of the Swedish union of journalists. EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, quickly congratulated the Swedish colleagues for what he qualified as an “impressive collective agreement for all freelancers”. Impressive agreement for all #freelance in @journalistforb Sweden https://t.co/W0oeVecdnR @EFJEUROPE #TradeUnion — Mogens B. Bjerregård (@mogensbb) July 1, 2015 It is important to note that the agreement covers all freelance…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today expressed deep concerns about the violence used against journalists and media workers covering labour issues in Turkey. “International standards like freedom of association, right to collective bargaining and right to strike must be respected by all parties and journalists who are playing a key role to assess the effectiveness of those rights should be totally free to do their job”, said EFJ-IFJ. According to media reports and local trade unionists, journalists and freelance media workers reporting on labour issues for the daily Evrensel Gazetesi and the…

The Union of Journalists in Bulgaria (SJBP Podkrepa, EFJ affiliate) has successfully held its 9th national conference on 25/06/2015 at the conference hall of the Confederation of Labour Syndicate in Sofia (Bulgaria). Reneta Nikolova, TV journalist, author and presenter of the rubric We and the Law at the Bulgarian National Televison, has been re-elected as President of Podkrepa with an absolute majority, she will work in tandem with her deputy Yavor Simov, an investigative journalist. The SJBP Podkrepa has 187 members and the main objectives of the new leadership are the following : recruitment of new members improving working conditions for journalists support investigative journalism sharing European best…

On Sunday (28/06/2015), the police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannon to disperse  LGBTi Pride Parade peaceful participants before even the beginning of the demonstration. Journalists and press photographers have prevented by the police from doing their job. The 13th edition of the Istanbul LGBTi Pride Parade was authorised and scheduled to start on Sunday at 5 pm at Taksim Square but the demonstration had “suddenly been banned by the Istanbul Governor’s Office using the month of Ramadan as the reason without any announcement”, according to the Istanbul LGBTI Pride Week Committee. Tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets have been used against…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have together condemned the actions of Armenian police who attacked and briefly detained at least 10 media workers who were covering a demonstration on 23 June in Yerevan (Armenia). The two organisations have asked the authorities to investigate the incidents and punish the perpetrators. According to media reports, at least 10 media workers were assaulted and briefly detained by police officers who destroyed phones, cameras, laptops and video equipment of many journalists. The police also confiscated the memory cards of those who had filmed the crackdown against…

Representative from 20 journalists’ organisations, publishing houses, academic institutions, trade unions and media experts from many European countries have launched the European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in Leipzig, Germany. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is among the founding members of the ECPMF. Mogens Blicher Bjerregård (EFJ President) and Liljana Smaijlovic (UNS President, Serbian Journalists’ Union) have been elected to the 8-member Executive Board,  Naser Selmani (President of the Journalists’ Association  of Macedonia) was elected into the Supervisory Board. The ECPMF is an independent non-profit European Co-operative Society (SCE). Its missions are to unite Europe’s highly fragmented media…

According to the Association of Polish Journalists (Stowarzyszenie Dziennikarzy Polskich, SDP), an affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Polish journalist Lukasz Masiak (31) working for the popular local newsportal NaszaMlawa.pl has been beaten to death in the night of 13 to 14 June 2015 in the city center of Mlawa, a town located in north-central Poland. “Lukasz Masiak was an esteemed and courageous journalist working for a local newsportal. We are very sadened to learn his death and deeply concerned that decisive response of law enforcement authorities comes only after the murder of the journalist,” said the SDP representative. “We send our…

“The country is going through a time in history whereby the concept of “criticism” has lost its substance. Any opinion opposing the views and positions of the politically powerful and not praising them are perceived as an “insult” or “defamation”. Any political dissent is subjected to intimidation. Triggered by this attitude, negative effects on political and social polarization has reached all segments of the society as well as the social life including publishing,” states a new report published this week by the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB). Although focusing mainly on freedom to publish for book writers and authors, the report also shows significant interest for…

Attending the Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum 2015 in Bonn (22/06/2015), the European Commissioner Günther Oettinger referred in his speech to “media freedom and pluralism” as a “crucial value for the EU”. To give examples of concrete steps, the Commissioner mentioned different EU projects involving the active participation of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). “Whether a media outlet is so-called traditional or online, media practitioners will always have to be warranted the right to report facts and offer their views and opinions. Political pressure, economic hardship, physical attacks against journalists, restrictive legislation, and a general financial crisis in the sector all influence…

Editorial  “Medal” for Azerbaijan for being leading jailer of journalists Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President As the host of the first European Games, Azerbaijan has certainly won the “medal”, even before the opening of the game, for its reputation as one of the leading jailers of journalists and its hostile treatments towards journalists and media. While local journalists are being put behind bars for their critical voices, many foreign journalists are barred from entering the country to report about the Games. The press freedom situation is at its worst on record when Azerbaijan ordered to shut down the office of…

“Despite existing legal guarantees, media freedom in Bulgaria is currently impeded or threatened by a combination of practices which, taken together, create an environment conducive to widespread self- censorship among journalists and undue external pressure on media,” said the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks in a special report published today (22/06/2015) about the situation of human rights and media freedom in Bulgaria. “This new report published by the Commissioner for Human Rights confirms the bad reputation of the Bulgarian media. The country is regularly named as the lowest ranking European Union member state for media freedom in several international…

The Svenska Journalistförbundet, Swedish affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), organised on Wednesday (10/06/2015) in Malmö a protest against the double use zero pay policy affecting press photographers and freelance journalists working for the newspaper Sydsvenskan. The Swedish daily newspaper Sydsvenskan bought at the end of last year another newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and the management wants to re-publish all the material from freelancers (photographers and reporters) without any financial compensation for the authors. Since November 2014, the Swedish union has initiated the negotiations with the management of Sydsvenskan without any progress achieved so far. A concrete proposal was put on…

Pressure against journalists and media workers was already alarming before the elections in Turkey and unfortunately the situation isn’t cooling down after the elections. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today (11/06/2015) learned that several attacks on physical integrity of journalists in Diyarbakir have taken place in the past few days : DHA female correspondent Canan Altintaş and her cameraman Serdar Sinar have been badly injured by a group of unidentified armed individuals (09/06/2015) İHA correspondent Burak Emek has been injured by a group of unidentified armed individuals (09/06/2015) Kurdish journalist and TGS member Ozan Kilinç (and board…

на српском The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has condemned the Swiss media group Ringier Axel Springer Media AG for the mass dismissal of journalists and media employees at Serbian media outlets (Blic, Alo, 24 casa, NIN, Blic, Zena Plusand,…) operated by the group. The EFJ gave strong backing to its Serbian affiliates UNS (The Journalists’ Association of Serbia – JAS) and NUNS (the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia – IJAS). In a letter sent to the management of the Swiss media group, the EFJ called on the management to investigate serious claims made by media professionals about the unofficial…

The Freedom for Journalists Plaftorm (GÖP), including the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) the EFJ-IFJ affiliate, calls on Turkish authorities to end pressure on media and journalists that prevent the public from accessing information. Yesterday (31/05/2015), police forces in Istanbul attacked again reporters for covering a public protest commemorating the second anniversary of the Gezi Park demonstrations. Journalist Emre Şencan working for the Turkish daily Zaman was injured. “The authorities should start an investigation against police officers who have attacked the reporter. Journalism in not a crime”, said TGS. The Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) published a specific statement denouncing…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) took part to the international interactive media workshop called Uniting Global Media for Human Rights organised by the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD). The event held in Stavanger (Norway) on May 21-22 was also a good networking opportunity with the participation of human rights experts and journalists from around the world. The workshop discussed over two days issues including the freedom of expression, censorship and sharing of experience and knowledge while documenting human rights violations worldwide. On day one, Melody Patry (Index) gave a skype presentation about Mapping Media Freedom in Europe…