“Stand up for free independent media, Europe needs journalism”, says Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), with a passionate appeal to politicians and media representatives at the start of the 16th Journalists’ Day of the regional association of the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband of North Rhine Westphalia in Dortmund. The German Journalists’ Association (DJV-NRW) has invited about 500 women journalists* to the meeting under the motto “The future of journalism – now or never”. In his welcoming speech, Chairman Frank Stach invoked the innovative spirit of the early journalists and publishers and encouraged all members and journalists’ students,…

The fight against hate speech should take place in schools and in the media. This was the starting point of the EU-funded project Silence Hate, which ended with a European conference organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Monday 18 November in Brussels.  After two years and 5 national workshops in schools; 15 young journalists trained, 10 journalistic pieces produced (available online); and one module for journalists on how to report migration and counter hate speech; the final event concluded that the awareness raising work should be continued in a more systematic way.  “Journalists have an obligation to…

A coalition of six international press freedom organisations and journalists’ organisations will carry out a three-day mission to Hungary from November 25 to 27 to examine current developments related to the state of press freedom and media capture in the country. The mission will meet with Hungarian journalists and civil society groups. It will also hold discussions with the international spokesperson of the Hungarian government, Zoltán Kovács, as well as the newly elected mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony. Numerous reports have documented how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has successively silenced critical voices in the country while at the same…

The State Duma on 21st November adopted a law that expands the status of “foreign agents” to private persons, including bloggers and independent journalists: 311 MPs out of 315 voted in support of the initiative, no one voted against, four abstained. The bill now has to be approved by the parliament’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, before President Vladimir Putin signs it into the law. Russia’s legislation on “foreign agents” already covers nongovernmental organisations and media outlets that receive any amount of funding from foreign sources. It requires them to indicate their ‘foreign agent’ status in publications, and creates reporting…

Prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested on 20 November in connection with investigations into the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech was aboard a yacht, apparently trying to leave the country. Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, described Fenech as a “person of interest” in the case and said there was nothing pointing towards the involvement of members of his administration in the murder. He was released on bail on Thursday evening. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family welcomed the arrest, saying it was “overdue” and added: “we now expect the authorities to continue investigating the links our mother uncovered between…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a partner of the new Stars4Media pilot project, starting in November 2019. Together with Fondation Euractiv, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and WAN-IFRA (World Association of newspapers and publishers), the EFJ will put young journalists from Europe with 2-10 years of experience in contact with media outlets in order to organise an exchange programme of 4-12 weeks. WHY: Addressing the crisis of the Media sector Disinformation disorder, falling trust and readership, unprecedented challenges in their business models, shifting skills and technology. The media sector is going through a deep multifaceted crisis. Solutions for a healthy…

Italian journalist and editor of the Campania Notizie news website, Mario de Michele, survived a gun attack on 14 November. The journalist escaped uninjured despite 10 bullets – six of which hit the car – shot by two unknown individuals while driving in the town of Gricignano d’Aversa. “It is a miracle he is alive”, the Italian journalists’ union Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana (FNSI) said in a statement. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) stands in solidarity with the journalist and alerts about the very worrying decline when it comes to journalists’ safety in Italy and Europe. The event…

Investigation about Russian journalist Ivan Golunov‘s arrestation was declared ‘classified’ by Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee (SK) on 11 November. The European Federation of Journalists and the Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) denounced this decision considered as an attempt to intimidate all the journalists investigating Russian politics and corruption. Golunov has been arrested on 6 June and accused of drug-dealing – the drugs were tossed by someone into his backpack and into his apartment. Such a practice is becoming more and more common for the intimidation and imprisonment of disturbing investigative journalists. After an unprecedented mobilisation campaign by civil…

In the plenary session of 13 November, few members of the European Parliament debated about the impunity of crimes against journalists and the importance of protecting journalists in order to have a solid democratic system. In their interventions, all the MEPs agreed to condemn the violence against journalists and the need to find the murderers of the crimes against journalists that remain unsolved in the EU. Although some of them referred to the situation in regions like Latin America or Africa, all of them are aware that journalists are in danger in Europe too. In this sense, they all agreed…

The Warsaw Regional Court ruled in favor of a Polish public radio journalist, Dorota Nygren, who was sanctioned for refusing to broadcast discriminatory information. The radio broadcasting has been found guilty of breaking the principle of equal treatment and the court ordered the payment of compensation for the discrimination and the correction of plaintiff’s reduced salary. On 2 September 2017, Nygren wrote a story for the radio information agency of the Polish public service broadcaster (IAR) about an event that happened in Italy, where a 53-year-old man spat at a 97-year-old priest in a local church. As editor, Nygren decided not to publish the…

Spanish political party VOX has denied the accreditation to several media outlets, ahead of the general election of 10 November. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Spanish affiliates Federacion de Servicios a la Ciudadania de CC.OO (FSC-CC.OO), Federacion de Asociaciones de la Prensa Espanola (FAPE) and Federation de Sindicatos de Periodistas (FeSP) in condemning this new attack on freedom of expression and in recalling the Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of expression. Right before the general election of Sunday November 10, VOX has denied the accreditation of Grupo Prisa media outlets – some…

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which is composed of three groups representing the EU’s trade unions, employers’ organisations and diverse civil society organisations, issued an interim report on fundamental rights and the rule of law in Romania, Hungary, Poland, Austria and France. This report highlights serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and the media as put forward by civil society in the targeted countries. Building on this newly published report, the EESC held in Brussels on 5 November a high-level conference on “Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law – Trends in the EU from a civil society…

Turkey’s biggest newspaper Hürriyet fired 45 journalists last week in one of the history’s most brutal layoffs operation press in Turkey.  Forty-three of them were members of the Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi (TGS), an EFJ affiliate. The employees said that their dismissal was notified by a letter while they were working. A few journalists’  access to their computer and e-mail accounts were blocked. A woman was on maternity leave, one on compulsory military service and another journalist on sick leave, according to Turkish media reports. Vahap Munyar, Hürriyet’s editor-in-chief, who said he was not aware of the layoffs, and some of…

Online hate speech is a worrying and complex phenomenon, which has deep cultural and social roots and brings new questions and challenges to the issue of freedom of expression on the internet. Can a new law be a solution to tackle online hate speech or a curb on freedom of expression? How can we silence hate without silencing media freedom? Only a collective commitment at the cultural and educational level can be the basis to counter it, promoting at the same time freedom and participation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will organise a final conference on 18 November in…

The Union of Icelandic Journalists has called for a series of temporary strikes among its members at the media companies that are affiliates of the Employers’ Association. The Union demands wages for journalists comparable to employees of similar educational background or university degrees. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) supports its affiliate the Union of Icelandic Journalists and joins the Nordic Federation of Journalists and its members in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland in backing Icelandic journalists’ demands and standing in solidarity. The first strike is among photographers and online journalists and will last for four hours on Friday. It…

A Turkish court ordered on 4 November the release under supervision of journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak who had spent three years in jail, accused of participating in the failed 2016 coup. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) welcome their release but urge authorities to remove the judicial control, stressing they were victims of trumped up charges. Both journalists were jailed in 2016 following their conviction of “aiding a terrorist group without being its member”, charges that they always denied. On 2 October 2018, the Court of appeal in Istanbul upheld aggravated life sentences of…