The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has attended at the Brussels Press Club,  the launch of a new book Mapping Foreign Correspondence in Europe showing that London is the world capital of foreign correspondents. The editor of the book Georgios Terzis has conducted a pan-european research for almost two years and gathered data about the 6.600 registered journalists working as correspondents in 27 countries (this first edition does not include information for Poland and Italy). According to the data disclosed, the country that has the highest number of foreign correspondents working there is the United Kingdom (1.700), following by France (945), Belgium…

Update (13/06/2015): Emin Huseynov flew out of Azerbaijan on the plane of Switzerland’s top diplomat Didier Burkhalter, who attended the Euro Games ceremony in Baku late on Friday (12/06/2015). Emin Huseynov who had been sheltering for 10 months at the Swiss embassy in Baku, is now in Bern. Julian Assange’s Courage Foundation helped him escape Azerbaijan and fly to Switzerland.   Reportage broadcasted this week by the Swiss national television shows the case of Azeri journalist and human rights defender Emin Huseynov, secretly hidden in the Swiss Embassy in Baku (Azerbaijan) since last August due to a wave of repression…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today received an official complaint drafted by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) which draws the attention to alarming developments in Serbia. According to the network, the Serbian Prime Minister, some media that support his administration and other high-ranking government officials are conducting unprecedented attacks against critical voices. After a series of investigations on issues of public interest, the Serbian authorities and pro-governmental media organisations started a public campaign against BIRN journalists labelling them as “EU mercenaries, spies and liars” or people working against Serbian national interests. “We are alarmed and particularly concerned by what appears to…

(05/01/2015) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has  participating in the FES-SINOS Trade Union Seminar in Belgrade (Serbia). The seminar organised by SINOS (Journalists Union of Serbia, EFJ affiliate), with the financial support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), has focused on the lack of social dialogue and the role of trade union organisations in the private media. The seminar with around 50 participants attracted extensive media coverage. The speakers included Dragana Cabarkapa (SINOS, Serbia), Renate Schroeder (EFJ Director), Tamara Causidis (SSNM, Macedonia), Dejan Gligorijevic (SINOS, Serbia), Marijana Camović (TUMM, Montenegro), Anton Filic (TUCJ, Croatia), several media experts, Mr Dusan…

Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility told a delegation of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 30 January that the European Commission is taking action to better prevent and deter undeclared work and bogus self-employment which contradicts EU labour standards. The EFJ raised concerns over the complete deregulation of economic and social labour relations in journalism leading to a new precarious workforce who cannot earn a living from journalism. To give concrete examples of the situation, the EFJ delegation gave copies of  recent EFJ reports on Confronting Austerity : Financial and Employment Models…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) last week sent journalist Barry White (NUJ UK) to observe the new press trials in Turkey, 29 – 31 January. Barry White, also a member of the EFJ Steering Committee, was joined by Mustafa Kuleli (General Secretary of the Journalists Union of Turkey, TGS), atthe first hearing against journalists Can Dündar (Cumhuriyet), Utku Çakirözer (Cumhuriyet), Hakan Gülseven (Yurt) and Nazli Ilicak (Bugün). The journalists are being sued by the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his wife Emine and son Bilal for violation of privacy and defamation following their…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) kicked off a two-year project “Rights and jobs in journalism” in a preparatory meeting held in Brussels with project partners. The project’s steering committee and representatives from four partner organisations (Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, Slovenian Association of Journalists, Federacion de servicios a la ciudadania de CC.OO, Danish Union of Journalists) discussed what measures can be taken to improve the capacity of unions in protecting the professional rights of journalists and reaching out to new members. Louise Theil, the recruitment officer of the Danish Journalists’ Union presented its recruitment strategy to the participants and…

One day after the anti-terror police interrogation imposed to journalist Fréderike Geerdink for some messages sent on Twitter, another Dutch journalist has been arrested today (07/01/2015) and will have to answer question for a picture taken in 2013 with a smartphone during a press trial. The Dutch-Turkish journalist Mehmet Ülgur has been arrested today at the airport in Istanbul (Turkey). The NVJ (Dutch Association of Journalists) has immediately reacted and informed the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this new case. “Mr Koenders (Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs) is still in Turkey. Maybe that can make a difference”, hopes the…

The Dutch journalist Fréderike Geerdink, permanent female media correspondent in Turkey for several media outlets (The Independent & Al Monitor), has been arrested today (06/01/2015) by a group of Turkish police anti-terrorism unit. “Terrorism police just searched my house, team of 8 guys. They take me to the station now, charge [sic]: ‘propaganda for terrorist organization”, wrote Geerdink on Twitter reporting about her own arrest. Fréderike Geerdink is specialised in the Kurdish issue (www.kurdishmatters.com), she wrote a new book about the Roboski massacre, she lives and works in the city of Diyarbakir. During the past few days, she was receiving…

The EFJ has today welcomed in Brussels a delegation composed from the Turkish Publishers Association, the Swedish Publishers’ Association, the International Publishers Association and EMHRN. The working group’s agenda was focused on the legal framework in terms of freedom to publish in Europe, examples of restrictions and bans in the EU countries, the experience of European organizations in terms of freedom to publish in the context of the Western Balkans enlargement. The working group compared strategies, discussed concrete examples of advocacy tactics and ways to monitor the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has welcomed today the report on Hungary by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr. Nils Muižnieks, criticising the country’s bad media freedom records and calling for changes to the media law. Judit Acsay, the Vice-President of the EFJ affiliate in Hungary (MÚOSZ), says “the report accurately summarises the state of media freedom in Hungary. I hope this will put pressure on the government to push for changes.” The report published today (16/12/2014) after Mr. Muižnieks’s visit to Hungary in July 2014 has examined various aspects relating to human rights…

Police forces in Turkey have today (14/12/2014) raided media outlets (Zaman newspaper and Samanyolu Television) known to be close to a US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. At least 23 people, including journalists and television producers, have been detained so far in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country and are apparently being accused of forming a criminal organization. Commenting this new operation, the Secretary General of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS, an EFJ affiliate) Mustafa Kuleli reminded that “this operation is performed just a few days before the first anniversary of the bribery and corruption scandal (known as “17 December”…

“In Macedonia, only 1 % of journalists consider their jobs to be absolutely secure while 77 % believe that they are under constant risk of being fired. Raising the issue and the consequences of the insecure or precarious work in the media industry is more than necessary”, shows a new survey published today (24/11/2014) in Skopje by the SSNM (Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers, an EFJ affiliate). The study based on 104 in-depth interviews with local journalists has been presented by SSNM President Tamara Chausidis during a conference on “Precarious Work in the Media Industry” attended by SSNM…

On 18/11/2014, a conference entitled “Media Integrity Matters – Reclaiming public service values in the Western Balkans media: How should the European Union Respond ?” has been organized in Brussels by MEP Tanja Fajon. The event was a follow-up to the publication of the book “Media integrity matters” in June 2014, comprising the research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. The study aims at addressing the obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe/Western Balkans by pointing out corrupt relations and practices in media policy, media ownership and financing,…

On 12 – 14 November, the Council of Europe (CoE) has launched a new toolbox for media professionals at the final encounter of a EU and CoE funded project on Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness (MEDIANE) with partnering organistions* including the European Federation of Journalists. The toolbox called “MEDIANE Box” was developed based on the hundreds of media professionals who have participated throughout the two-year project led by the CoE. The MEDIANE Box aims at supporting media professionals to include diversity in their daily work and production. It is considered as a self-monitoring tool to monitor the capacities of the media and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the AJP, the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists, strongly condemn the recent police violence used against press photographers, who clearly declined their identity as journalists while on duty. During the national demonstration held on 6 November in Brussels, a press photographer working for Sudpresse newspapers group was struck by a punch by police officer while he was taking a picture of another wounded policeman. Only the intervention of two journalists has been able calm the police, reports the AJP. “Moreover, a press photographer working for Photo News press agency was attacked twice.…