Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, whose editor Dmitry Muratov was a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, announced on Monday it will cease online and print operations until the end of the war in Ukraine after it received a second warning from the state media regulator RKN for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls once again on the Russian authorities to stop the spiral of censorship and the eradication of independent media in Russia. The warning came a day after Dmitry Muratov spoke with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a group interview with…

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT   On 28 March 2022, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) published the report “Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece”, which details the findings and recommendations of its online fact-finding mission to Greece. The mission, involving interviews with more than thirty local stakeholders, was implemented by the MFRR partners, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with Reporters Without Borders in December 2021. The partner organisations conclude that challenges to the independence of the media and the safety of journalists are systemic in the country. While the problems are not unique, their intensity…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has submitted its contribution to the European Commission’sPublic consultation for the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) on 24 March 2022. The EFJ has welcomed the initiative as an overdue action to reconcile unprecedented threats against independent journalism and media including politicisation, such as so-called state capture, lack of transparency in media ownership, increased threats on independent public service and unfair allocation of state funding. The questions include the important issue of self-regulation, the work of media authorities but also the need to create an enabling environment for media. The EMFA proposal aims to increase…

On 28 March 2022, the Media Freedom Rapid Response will publish the report of its online fact-finding mission to Greece that took place in December. Under the title ‘Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece’, the report reflects the mission’s findings and recommendations on: The assassination of Giorgos Karaivaz; Polarisation of a fragmented media landscape; Reporting on migration; Reporting on protests; and, Legal threats. The report will be launched with an online panel on 28 March at 2pm CEST (=3pm EEST) with: Laurens Hueting, Senior Advocacy Officer of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) Iliana Papangeli, Managing Director of…

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) confirmed today the death of the Russian journalist Oksana Baulina, killed after coming under Russian shelling with another civilian while she filmed destruction at a shopping centre in Podil district in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is the sixth journalist to die since the war began. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) once again condemn the bombing of civilian targets by the Russian army. Oksana Baulina had been reporting from Kyiv and Lviv for investigative Russian website The Insider. The publication said: “We will continue to cover the war in Ukraine, including…

At the beginning of the war in Ukraine and the bombing of major cities, the IFJ and the EFJ launched a special Safety Fund to support journalists in need in the country through their affiliates IMTUU and NUJU as well as journalists trying to flee Russia. Ernest Sagaga is the head of IFJ Safety and Human Rights Department. He tells us about the use of the fund and the IFJ/EFJ work to support journalists in the region. 1. There has been a massive show of solidarity by journalists across the globe to support media professionals in need in Ukraine. Can you describe the type…

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) confirmed on 23 March that Ukrainian journalist Viktor Dedov died on 11 March in Mariupol after his flat was bombed. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sends its condolences to the family and friends of the journalist. The EFJ once again calls on the Russian occupier to stop the bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine. Viktor Dedov was the chief operator of the Ukrainian television station Sigma-TV. He was at home when two shells hit his apartment. The second mortally wounded Dedov. The family was unable to bury the journalist because another…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed concern over the recent move by the Programming Council of public service broadcaster RTV in Slovenia intending to restrict criticism made by the journalists’ trade union representative about the public broadcaster. The EFJ affiliate in Slovenia, the Union of Slovenian Journalists (SNS), denounced a violation of trade union rights and freedom of expression. On 17 March 2022, the Programme Council of RTV, the public broadcaster’s governing body in charge of media content, adopted the following decision: “Based on the explanations of the management of RTV Slovenia, the Programming Council hereby concludes that the:…

Russian authorities said Tuesday they had launched a criminal case against a popular journalist for alleging that the Russian army deliberately shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. Alexander Nevzorov is the first prominent reporter to be probed for spreading alleged “false” information about the Russian army under new Russian legislation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns this judicial action and the state censorship that prevents journalists from doing their work in Russia. Alexander Nevzorov, 63, is a veteran Russian journalist and a former member of the Russian parliament, as an independent deputy. “Nevzorov published deliberately false information about the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined civil society, media and journalist organisations committed to the EU’s efforts to champion the rule of law in Europe to provide advice for strengthening the 2022 rule of law reporting cycle with a civil society statement. This followed other efforts to strengthen the process. As the reporting cycle has entered its third edition, we welcome progressive improvements such as the inclusion of country-specific recommendations. These recommendations are key to ensuring follow-up actions to the reports, thereby strengthening their impact and accountability on national-level and EU-wide reforms on the rule of law. To this…

Gender equality and diversity in the media are far from the reality, highlighted in a two-day conference organized by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in cooperation with its affiliate, the Andalusian Journalists Union (SPA) and the Federation of Journalists Unions (FeSP), in Malaga on 14 and 15 March. The conference is a part of a two-year project on “Trust in media” funded by the European Commission.  The conference also called for actions from media companies to step up their efforts and responsibility to make a culture change in the newsrooms. If the media wants to maintain trust from the…

Over 150 journalists, representatives of journalists’ organisations and press councils, as well as academics, politicians, and civil society activists gathered on 17-18 March at the Solidarność Centre in Gdansk, Poland, for the second edition of the Free European Media conference. Participants, including Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice-President, Patrick Penninckx, Head of Information Society Department of the Council of Europe, presented new recommendations to support the development of free media. Thursday evening’s event on the war in Ukraine brought together Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian and Moldovan journalists, including Andrei Bastunets, President of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and Mykola Semena, delegate…

Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske has revealed today that one of its journalists, Victoria Roshchina, has been missing since 15 March 2022. The media fears that she is “a prisoner of the Russian occupiers”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls for her immediate release. According to Hromadske, Victoria Roshchina had planned to go last week to Mariupol, a city that has been shelled by Russian troops for more than two weeks. On 12 March, her colleagues were unable to make contact. She was probably detained a few days later, on 15 March, by Russian forces in an unknown location. “For…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) invites you to a summit taking place between 22-24 March focusing on boosting media freedom, strengthening independent media and ensuring the safety of journalists in Europe. The Summit panels will all be streamed online on the MFRR YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Specialised workshops for journalists, media professionals, journalist association representatives, and journalism students will take place on Zoom. Registration for the workshops is required. The MFRR Summit 2022 will open with a video message by Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, followed by a keynote address by Roberto Saviano, an Italian journalist and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today called on the international community to put pressure on Russia to end the blockade of Mariupol in Ukraine. A large-scale humanitarian disaster in this major city in eastern Ukraine must be avoided. The EFJ supports its Ukrainian affiliates, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU), in their efforts to evacuate journalists and media workers from Mariupol. After a series of failures due to the lack of a ceasefire, evacuations in Mariupol accelerated on Tuesday as residents ran out of food and water. About 20,000…

Fox News camera operator Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, also known as Sasha, were killed on 14 March while reporting from Horenka, a city close to Kyiv. Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall was seriously injured in the same attack. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) denounced the targeting of media workers reporting on the front lines in Ukraine and urged the international community to investigate these attacks. Fox News reported that the journalists’ vehicle “was struck by incoming fire” yesterday as the crew was heading towards the city of Irpin. Only Benjamin Hall’s serious condition following…