On Sunday, 18 October, Kosovo journalist Shkumbin Kajtazi announced via a Facebook post that he had found his car damaged by several bullets that broke the window and left holes on the front and back seats. It is believed that this attack is related to his journalistic work. Kajtazi is an investigative journalist working for Reporteri.net and Jepi zë and covers political events, politicians and corruption affairs in Kosovo. This is the second time in four months that the journalist was targeted. The previous time, on 13 June, his car was set on fire and the prosecutor informed him that…

On 15 October, the Dutch Public Broadcaster NOS announced they are removing NOS logos from their cars and trucks due to the number of attacks against their employees and elevated fear of further harassment. The logic behind this step is that journalists’ safety increases when it is not immediately recognisable who they are working for. The measure, which was taken after thorough consideration, is described as a “defeat for the NOS, but especially for journalism” by Marcel Gelauff, editor-in-chief of NOS. “However, almost daily aggressions towards journalists, such as calling names, threats, cutting off on the highway or banging on…

Two Swedish journalists investigating the sinking of the MS Estonia are being prosecuted for “violating a burial site”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Denmark in condemning the decision of the Swedish authorities. Journalist Henrik Evertsson and camera operator Linus Andersson have produced a new documentary series entitled “Estonia: The Discovery that Changes Everything”, which investigates the sinking of the cruise ferry the “MS Estonia” en route from Tallinn to Stockholm in September 1994. It is known as one of Europe’s greatest maritime disasters, killing 852 people. Survivors had long been…

On 16 October 2017, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in Malta. Three years later we, the undersigned 19 international free expression, anti-corruption, civic participation, and journalists’ organisations, once again demand an end to impunity for this heinous attack. As alleged murder mastermind, Yorgen Fenech, is facing criminal proceedings and the three defendants charged with carrying out the contract killing Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat, are awaiting trial, we recall that justice delayed is justice denied. We call for thorough and effective criminal investigations and prosecutions that ensure the whole truth is uncovered and all those responsible for…

Turkey’s press freedom crisis is worsening amid growing state capture of media, the lack of independence of regulatory institutions, and a new social media law designed to clamp down on the remaining spaces for free comment, a coalition of 11 international press freedom, journalism and human rights groups, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warned following a four-day mission to the country last week. They also flagged the continued jailing and prosecution of journalists as well as ongoing concerns over the safety of journalists and judicial independence. The coalition held hybrid online/offline meetings last week in Istanbul and Ankara…

The EU training and exchange programme Stars4Media has delivered its promises despite the COVID-19 outbreak. During one year, the pilot project involved 105 media professionals from 42 media outlets in 17 European countries. At the occasion of the Media4Europe conference, which took place on 14 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) awarded the most outstanding Initiatives, among the 21 completed. “You are all winners, stressed EFJ director and jury member Renate Schroeder as the programme already selected 21 Initiatives in Spring 2020. Together with the jury members, we decided to…

Undue pressures and harassment against journalists – often leading the limitation or even the suppression of the dissemination of public interest information and self-censorship – are still occurring among journalists in Europe, says a new book titled “A mission to inform: journalists at risk speak out” published today by the Council of Europe. This book is a unique exploration of the intimidation of journalists across Europe and it provides an invaluable resource to everyone concerned with the protection of journalists, including government authorities and media practitioners. Co-authored by Prof Marilyn Clark and William Horsley, the book complements the 2017 Study…

The latest compromise of the German Presidency on the draft regulation on the proposal for a regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online raises great concerns regarding media freedom and fundamental rights among media and journalists’ organisations. The draft is currently in tripartite discussions between the Council of Ministers under the German Presidency, the European Parliament and the EU Commission with the aim to come to a final adopted text before the end of this year.  In the view of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and media organisations including the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), European Magazine Media Association…

On 8 October, the Armenian authorities decided to amend the martial law declared on 27 September 2020, which from now on prohibits the publication of reports criticising the actions of the government, officials and local bodies. It also gives increased power to the police to give fines, freeze assets and request removal of content from media outlets. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined its affiliate in Armenia in denouncing a blatant violation of media freedom in a context where non-partisan information is crucial. The amendments refer in particular to the publication of reports “criticising”, “refuting actions of…

Following the last round of negotiation on 7 October, members of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in Germany (DJV and dju in ver.di)  finally reached an agreement with the management of Deutsche Welle (DW) for the new collective agreement to have 6.2% salary increase by the end of 2022. The EFJ has congratulated its members for the tough negotiation which led to a positive outcome for the DW journalists. According to the new agreement, journalists’ salaries at DW will be increased by 2.1% each year for the first two years and another 2% in the third year, amounting to…

Together with the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) the European Federation of Journalists is urging the President of the Republic, Zoran Milanović, to stop calling out the media and journalists, which he has been doing intensively in recent days through posts on Facebook and interviews. Milanović has been publicly insulting several media outlets, journalists as well as members of the opposition and a political anaylist in ad hominem attacks. The insults began after a major corruption scandal involving an oil pipeline company was revealed in September. Milanović admitted having gone to a secret club during the lockdown in March, where apparently…

Belarusian riot police detained dozens of protesters in several cities on Sunday as thousands rallied for the ninth consecutive Sunday rally against the fraudulent election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. At least 40 journalists were detained in Belarus on Sunday. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) demands sanctions against those who try to censor mass protests by arresting journalists. According to the reports of the Belarusain Association of Journalists (BAJ), the EFJ affiliate in Belarus, Belarusian security forces detained journalists just before people gathered in the streets. BAJ registered 40 cases of detention of journalists in Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk, Mogilev,…

The European Federation of Journalists today joined journalists’ and press freedom organisations in expressing dismay at the decision of a court in Montenegro to find journalist Jovo Martinović guilty of participating in drug trafficking, despite clear evidence he was working undercover as part of an investigation at the time. The Media Freedom Rapid Response partners and media freedom organisations strongly condemn today’s decision by the High Court of Montenegro to sentence investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic to one year in prison for participating in drug trafficking. While he was acquitted on charges for membership in a criminal organization and will not spend time…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has co-signed a letter with representatives of authors, performers, publishers and creative workers at EU level calling on the European Commission, national authorities and MEPs from V4 countries to reject demands and defend European interests on private copying. The letter reads: Some of the world’s biggest consumer device manufacturers are aggressively targeting the Visegrad Four countries in an effort to weaken national legislation or application of the existing legal framework on private copying. European organisations and unions representing authors, performers, publishers and creative workers therefore call on governments and EU decision-makers to take a…

Police detained four journalists in eastern Turkey on 6 October and raided their homes and offices following their reporting on allegations of Turkish security forces torturing two Kurdish villagers and throwing them from a helicopter. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) call for an immediate release of the journalists. Police detained reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, who work for Mezopotamya Agency (MA), and Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala, working for Jin News, in the province of Van, located in eastern Turkey, on the morning of 6 October. The premises of MA and Jin News and the…

In a second ground-breaking announcement on licensing news since 25 June, Google pledged on Thursday 1 October to offer $1 Billion in the next three years to license news. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) say the pledge is a far cry from what Google should pay the global news industry and journalists worldwide, and demand full transparency on the programme and deals with news publishers. The company will license news for its “News Showcase”, a programme that allows publishers to create “story panels” or teasers with photos and videos, selected and packaged by publishers. The teasers, in…