EFJ – the European Federation of Journalists, ENPA – the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, EMMA – the European Magazine Media Association, and EPC – the European Publishers’ Council sent a joint letter to DAPIX, the European Council Working Group on Data protection, to ask them not to lower the level of protection of Press Freedom. The joint letter call on DAPIX to ensure that Article 80 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a clear, directly applicable and legally binding exemption for journalistic data processing. Or, at the minimum, preserves the actual acquis on the draft Regulation on data…

The Finnish public broadcasting company Yle has announced on Monday 3 November about the imminent plan to reduce at least 185 permanent jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. Following the announcement, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Initiates has sent a letter to CEO, Mr Lauri Kivinen, and the management team of Yle, calling on them to engage in dialogue with the journalists’ union, Suomen Journalistiliitto. According to Yle, the cost-cutting measures were introduced as a result of a funding shortfall. Earlier this year, the Finnish Parliament has decided to freeze an inflation-related increase on the so-called Yle tax…

The 3rd High Criminal Court in Istanbul has today (05/11/2014) proceed to the hearing of the KCK Press trial where 46 journalists and media workers are being prosecuted for being a member or doing propaganda work on behalf of an illegal terrorist organisation. The European Federation of Journalists’ (EFJ) Project Officer Mehmet Koksal, the International Publishers Association (IPA)’s Director José Borghino and the head of Istanbul Branch of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Gökhan Durmus have attended the hearing in solidarity with the accused journalists. During the court hearing, the defendants lawyers argued about the unconstitutionalilty of the current…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban to abandon his “anti-democratic plan” to tax internet use and to start listening to his people and understand the reality of the developments in the media. “It is very unwise and unrealistic of Orban’s government to think that the internet tax is of any relevance in today’s digital age,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård, EFJ President. “This is evident from the tens of thousands protesters who showed up on Tuesday night’s protest.” According to the organiser of the protest, following the first rally on Sunday 26 October, the…

It is essential that international organizations not only have press freedom as key issues, but also pursues effectively the abuses that are taking place and put pressure on the authorities to correct those attacks on press freedom, writes Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, President of the Danish Union of Journalists and EFJ President. By Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård I’m just back from Macedonia where I had the opportunity to visit a journalist whose life is in ruins because he does not want to disclose his sources. The European Federation of Journalists sent a letter to the Macedonian Ambassador to the European Union. Similar…

The EFJ has been invited to contribute to the last South-east Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) 2014 held on 16-18 October 2014 in Skopje. The event was organized by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Central European Initiative (CEI) in partnership with UNESCO, the European Commission, International Academy – International Media Center (IA-IMC) and South East and Central Europe PR Organisation (SECEPRO) and in cooperation with the South East European Network for the Professionalization of Media (SEENPM), Macedonian Institute for Media, Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM/ZNM), the…

For the 7th time, the EFJ will be marking 5 November as a day to “Stand Up For Journalism”, and we are asking our affiliates across Europe to join in the campaign. On the day or during the week of the 5 November, journalists across Europe and around the world come together in solidarity to spotlight some of the major challenges they face.  Find out more about this campaign HERE.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA) has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the travel ban imposed on investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country. The EFJ, as part of the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA),  including APC, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, Freedom House,  Freedom Now, the…

The EFJ has sent a joint letter to the European Commission along with twelves other authors’ organisations representing the creative workforce demanding the Commission to create a special private copying levy on cloud computing services. The call came after the Directorate General of the Commission responsible for Digital Agenda (DG CONNECT) in Europe launched a public consultation regarding cloud computing. The group explained that copies made via cloud computing services have the same purpose (private use) as the copies made by private individuals on their phones, tablets, USB sticks.  Therefore, they should be subject to the same levy system applied…

Every worker is entitled to the right to strike which is guaranteed by the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights and the constitutions in many EU countries. However, Germany will challenge this right by proposing a new law to limit the right to strike. According to the proposal, only the union with the most members in a company should have the right to negotiate with the employers and carry out strike actions. This would mean that larger unions will have a monopoly of power, making the smaller unions practically superfluous. The EFJ affiliates in Germany, DJV and dju.in Verdi, are joining…

(2014) ‘‘Journalists’ and their organisations must be the driving force for the future of journalism’’ – this is the notion highlighted in the study published by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today about finding ways to sustain quality journalism. Authored by Andreas K. Bittner, the study on Confronting Austerity: Financial and Employment Models in Journalism was the result of a one-year project carried out by the EFJ to find out how journalists and their organisations can confront the crisis and respond to / take advantage of the rapidly changing media landscape.  Responses collected from 42 EFJ affiliates across Europe…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urges Slovenian prosecutors to immediately drop the criminal charges against Anuška Delić, an investigative reporter for Delo, a leading Slovenian daily. She is accused of publishing classified state intelligence. She faces up to three years in prison just for having done her job. The trial against her is expected to begin on Wednesday 15 October, in Slovenia. In 2011, Anuška Delić wrote a series of articles, just before the Slovenian parliamentary elections, in which she uncovered alleged connections between the Slovenian neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour and members of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).…

Journalists unions from across the former Soviet Union and South East Europe gathered to debate the status of journalism, union organising and violations and safety of journalists rights across the region. The meeting was the third joint IFJ / EFJ meeting in the region to build greater collaboration and support for journalists unions across Europe. Discussions focused on labour rights, new forms of organising and recruitment, union campaigning, legal defense and new digital tools. The meeting started by recalling the many hundreds of journalists that have suffered violence and persecution for their work since the 2013 conference in Kiev and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called for authorities in Macedonia to drop all charges against the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski – who has now been held under house arrest for over a year. In 2013, Kezarovski was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by a tribunal in Skopje for writing investigative articles for the magazine Reporter 92. He is currently under house arrest, unemployed and living in very difficult conditions. The EFJ has sent a letter to Andrej Lepavcov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union, calling for Macedonian authorities to bring an end to all…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the National Union of Journalists, UK and Ireland (NUJ), to welcome a call by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media for a re-opening of the investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan in September 2001. On Friday Dunja Mijatović called on the UK authorities to re-launch a criminal investigation into the murder which happened 13 years ago. “It is unacceptable that all this time has passed and not one person has been held responsible for what was a public execution,”…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have sent a message of solidarity and support to their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), as it prepares for its annual solidarity event to remember fallen colleagues. Tomorrow, Sunday, 8 September, RUJ leaders and members, as well as many journalists and writers, will unite for the International Journalists’ Solidarity Day in Moscow, a powerful day of demonstrations and events to commemorate colleagues who have been killed, stand up for freedom of expression and strengthen solidarity in their struggle to combat impunity against journalists in Russia.…