Journalists have always been in the spotlight and now, with the rise of the use of social media, they are one of the main targets for online harassment. These attacks often includes threats to the journalists themselves and their families and are most commonly directed to women and their biggest consequences are psychological, according to an IFJ survey. Anxiety, stress and fear are, together with self-censorship, the main effects of online harassment on journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published a short guide on how journalists should protect themselves from this harassment: prevention measures to take in advance, how to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Council of Europe Rapporteur on media freedom George Foulkes‘ call for better protection for journalists in Europe. Over the past two years, George Foulkes, who is a British Labour Co-operative politician and former Scotland minister, has been investigating this issue as General Rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace). His report points out that the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism shows that the situation is getting worse in Europe. From 2015 to date, 26 journalists have been…

Julian Assange, publisher of Wikileaks, is currently detained in Belmarsh high-security prison in the United Kingdom. He faces extradition to the United States and criminal prosecution under the US Espionage Act. He has been charged for publishing the Afghanistan and Iraq war diaries and US embassy cables, important documents that many journalists around the world used and helped to publicise. The “War Diaries” provided evidence that the US Government misled the public about activities in Afghanistan and Iraq and committed war crimes. “We believe that the arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution of Julian Assange set an extremely dangerous precedent for…

As part of the EU-funded project Trust and Quality in Journalism, the European Federation of Journalists and its Belgian affiliates (AJP/VVJ) are organising the first session of a series of five workshops that aim to promote best practices and exchange ideas about rebuilding trust and ensuring quality in journalism. The workshop taking place in Brussels on March 19-20 will gather experts of authors’ rights officer from the EFJ members, media stakeholders and EU policy makers to discuss national implementation of the EU Copyright Directive and how to guarantee a fair share for journalists. The new directive includes key provisions for the…

Are you planning the next big move and in need of expert help? Whether it is about negotiating a new agreement, building recruitment and organising strategies to increase membership, or launching a campaign for journalists, the EFJ Expert Exchange Visit Programme can help you find the experts to share good practices among journalists’ organisations. As part of the EU-funded Trust and Quality in Journalism‘s project framework, EFJ members can request an expert from another affiliate for national training and coaching on union related subjects – collective bargaining, labour rights, authors’ rights, public broadcasting, recruitment and organising and more. The last…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has recorded 49 killings of journalists and media professionals in 2019, including two in Europe, a significant drop from 95 posted last year. The IFJ says that, while the apparent decreasing bloodbath in the journalists’ community is a welcome relief, the spread of killings and the motives behind the killings are sobering reminders that violence against journalists is still rampant and the failure to combat impunity for these attacks remain a damning indictment on those in power. The IFJ lists 18 countries from the four corners of the world where journalist were killed since…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the release of Ukrainian journalists Stanislav Aseev and Oleh Halaziuk who suffered a long illegal custody in Donetsk. On Sunday, at a checkpoint near Gorlovka, pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine have concluded a long-awaited prisoner exchange of 200 prisoners, including the two journalists who contributed to the Ukrainian service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. While welcoming these releases, the EFJ recalls that 122 journalists and media actors remain in prison in Europe: 108 in Turkey; 7 in Russia; 6 in Azerbaijan; 1 in the United Kingdom (Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined today its Spanish affiliates FSC-CCOO and FAPE in condemning the increasingly common practice of no-questions-asked press conferences, in Spain. On Wednesday, Pedro Sanchez (our picture), secretary general of the PSOE and candidate for investiture as president of the Government, invited journalists to attend a press conference, after confirming the King’s order to try to form a government and thus be invested president. Sanchez only allowed two questions, which was strongly criticized by journalists present. The Spanish Secretary of State for Communication, Miguel Ángel Oliver criticized journalists covering la Moncloa, the seat of government,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed today the registry on self-regulation of online media in North Macedonia, which was announced yesterday by the Council of Media Ethics (CMEM) together with the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM). “We believe that journalists’ organisations should promote for the public benefit high ethical standards in journalism, based on five principles: truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and honesty, humanity, and accountability,” said EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez. “That is why the EFJ supports this professional initiative aiming to strenghten media self-regulation in North Macedonia.” The initiative will promote self-regulation of online media by…

Several Members of the European Parliament (MEP) urged Maltese Primer Minister, Joseph Muscat, to resign “now”. In a resolution adopted on 18 December, the European Parliament expressed its concern about the “integrity and credibility” of the investigations related to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. It stressed that “any risk of compromising the investigations (…) must be excluded by all means” and warned that this risk will persist for “as long as the Prime Minister remains in office”. MEPs also called on the new Commission “to enter into dialogue with the Maltese Government in the context of the Rule of Law Framework…

The Belgian Press Council (Conseil de déontologie journalistique – CDJ) invites you to a European interactive forum on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, to take place in Brussels on 21-22 January 2020. It will bring together media, journalists, press councils, journalists’ unions and associations and will address challenges of journalistic self-regulation in the digital age. Press councils and self-regulatory mechanisms – usually tripartite involving journalists, media representatives and the civil society – plays an ever-important role in upholding standards in journalism while preventing state intervention through media regulations. The forum will raise awareness about the added-value of self-regulation and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined today the “Europe stands with Malta” demonstration in front of the Maltese Permanent Representation in Brussels, to stand in solidarity with the people of Malta demanding the immediate resignation of the Maltese Prime Minister following his office being implicated in the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Several speakers, including Andrew Caruana Galizia, Maltese MEP David Casa, Tom Gibson (Committee to Protect Journalists), Ricardo Gutiérrez (European Federation of Journalists), Oliver Money-Kyrle (International Press Institute) and Alice Stollmeyer (Defending Democracy), spoke out against injustice and impunity in…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ), in partnership with their Turkish affiliates, organised last week two training workshops in Istanbul and Bursa, Turkey. The events are part of an EU-funded project promoting journalists’ rights and human rights journalism, which the organisations currently implement in Turkey. Organized on 4 December in partnership with the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS) and Evrensel newspaper, the first workshop focused on countering fake news and fact-checking techniques. Training was delivered in the newsroom to 12 journalists by trainer Gülin Çavuş and Orhan Şener, director of the TGS Akademi. It examined various online fact-checking techniques including KnightLab,…

UPDATE (19 December 2019): On 18 December, the Albanian parliament approved two controversial media laws, known as the “anti-defamation package”. 82 MPs voted in favour of the law, 13 against and 5 MPs abstained. We condemn these media law changes, which if they come into force, will result in the replacement of self regulation of online media with state regulation. Cosmetic changes made at the very last minute do not address all the concerns raised by the European Union, the Council of Europe (CoE) and CoE’s Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic. We urge the president not to decree these changes as…

We, the undersigned organisations, reiterate our call on the Albanian parliament not to approve the draft media laws known as the “defamation package.” Should the draft laws enter into force, they would introduce mandatory registration requirements for online media and create an administrative body with the power to fine, shut down online media and block foreign online media – all without a court order. They would also introduce state regulation of online media, which is contrary to international best practice guidelines on self-regulation. We note that the proposals are not in line with best practices on self-regulation and would have an adverse…

Turkish journalist İdris Özyol who had been beaten up in May was found unconscious in the street in Antalya on 2nd December and rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. The EFJ and IFJ join the Progressive Journalists’ Association (CGD) and Disk Basın-İş in calling for a full investigation into the case and demanding the government act to ensure journalists’ safety. İdris Özyol, who is known for his criticism of government’s policies, writes for local daily Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl in the southern province of Antalya. On 15 May 2019, he was attacked by three assailants in front of his…