Two Azerbaijani journalists and an official were killed today by a landmine explosion in the Kalbajar region, west of Nagorno-Karabakh. Four others were injured in the incident, which saw a truck blown up by an anti-tank mine at about 11am local time, Azerbaijan’s interior ministry and the office of the prosecutor general said in a statement. The three victims were identified as Maharram Ibrahimov, a reporter working for state news agency AzerTag, Siraj Abishov, a cameraman for Azerbaijan state television AzTV, and local official Arif Aliyev. The explosion occurred when a bus carrying journalists who were on duty in the Kalbajar region…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), welcome today’s statement by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro urging “the public authorities in Belarus to free all journalists and other media workers who have been sentenced, arrested or detained in the country. Most of these journalists were apprehended for their reporting on public events and other political developments in the country.” “This systematic clampdown on journalists and media workers is a gross violation of the OSCE commitments related to freedom of expression and media freedom, voluntary undertaken…

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) condemns the threats and insults by Bosnian Serb politician Milorad Dodik against journalist Tanja Topic. Currently a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik called the journalist a German agent and ‘quisling’. It is the latest in his campaign of threats and insults against journalists who is he disagrees with. ETUC defends democracy and the rights of independent journalists and a free media, and says that threats and insults against journalists, and anyone else, should have no place in the rhetoric of elected politicians. “This is a new low for Dodik and…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is deeply concerned by the lawsuit targeted at a journalist and the editor-in-chief of the Network for Investigation of Crime and Corruption (KRIK) by the director of Serbia’s Security-Information Agency (BIA). The MFRR urges the BIA director Bratislav Gasic to immediately withdraw the civil lawsuit against KRIK and to refrain from weaponising the law to intimidate media outlets investigating the nexus between crime, corruption and politics in Serbia. The SLAPP lawsuit stems from anarticle KRIK published on April 9 which reported details of wiretapped conversations played as evidence in the murder trial of criminal…

Journalists and media in Croatia are targeted by new legal threats, warned the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and Union (SNH) with five lawsuits filed against Telegram.hr portal. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns the widespread practices in the country, also known as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), whose objectives are to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with court proceedings. Last month, judge Zvonko Vrban, president of Osijek County Court, filed five lawsuits against the Telegram.hr portal for five articles written by journalist Drago Hedl about irregularities in the judge’s work. Vrban announced that damages…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Croatia, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND), in condemning the latest verbal attacks and accusations by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković towards media and journalists after the local elections on 30 May. Shortly after the second round of local elections in Croatia last Sunday, the Prime Minister once again attacked the media, accusing them of “being paid to vilify a political camp” and of deliberately and repeatedly misnaming the HDZ’s candidate for Zagreb mayor, Davor Filipović, in debates in the first election round. Plenković also accused the media of being “mercenaries who disgust one’s…

The journalistic profession is rapidly changing as a result of the emergence of new technologies. Journalists are expected to acquire new skills and do multi-tasking. They have to be an all-in-one journalist, photographer and camera operator. At the same time, they are caught up in the 24-hours news cycle and lack the time to take part in training in order to learn new skills. Instead, most of them are learning these new skills while performing their jobs. Media companies are less and less interested in offering training for their journalists due to budget cuts. How can we solve this dilemma…

The journalist and political analyst Tanja Topić was wildly attacked and threatened by Milorad Dodik, the Chairman of the BiH state Presidency, on 24 May. He denounced her as “an agent of the German BND” and a “quisling”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate, the BH Journalists’ Association (BHJA), in condemning yet another violation to press freedom by one of the highest political officials in the country. This is not the first time Milorad Dodik is targeting journalists as “traitors”, “mercenaries” and “hostile media” or that he insulted or humiliated journalists whose reporting he disagrees with. This latest…

On 21 May, the third session of the EFJ series of webinars on improving media reporting on Muslims and Islam took place online with contributions from the journalistsJean-Paul Marthoz (Le Soir, Belgium), Shirish Kulkarni (Clwstwr, UK) and Neila Butt, Creative Diversity Lead for programs at Channel 4 in the UK. The webinar focussed on how journalists can push for more ethical reporting practices inside their newsrooms and how diverse newsrooms currently are. To watch the recording of the webinar click here. Jean-Paul Marthoz started the discussion by highlighting that there are many ways to cover Islam but we must stick…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) join the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) to call for the immediate release of all political prisoners held in Belarus, including 29 journalists and media actors. This statement was originally published on baj.by on 24 May 2021. On May 23, blogger Raman Pratasevich was detained by Belarusian security forces at the Minsk National Airport, following the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger airliner. According to available information, Pratasevich is facing charges under Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (organization of mass riots), Part 1 of Art. 342 of…

On Sunday 23 May, the Belarusian authorities forced a civilian plane to perform an emergency landing in Minsk. The Ryanair plane, flying between Greece and Lithuania and carrying more than 100 passengers, was forced to land by a Belarusian military aircraft. One of the flight passengers, Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich, was retained by the Belarusian authorities and prevented from boarding the plane at the Minsk airport to its original destination. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounces this act of air piracy and state terrorism. It demands the immediate release of Raman Pratasevich and the 28 other journalists currently detained…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the European Parliament’s adoption of the new Creative Europe cultural programme on 19 May. This programme will support European cultural exchange with a budget of around 2.5 billion euros for the period 2021-27, a sum which is the EU’s biggest ever financial commitment to the culture and media sector. For the first time, news media and journalism will be supported as well. The Creative Europe programme will benefit from a financial envelope set at € 1 842 000 000 in current prices and an additional allocation of € 600 000 000 in 2018…

The German Journalist Association (DJV) in Thuringia has been subjected to an alarming wave of hate speech and threats since 1 May, peaking with a death threat addressed to its managing director Sebastian Scholz. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) stands in solidarity with DJV and urges the police to investigate the case. The DJV in Thuringia have received numerous hate emails and threatening phone calls since an incident on 1 May. During a demonstration, its managing director Sebastian Scholz – who no longer works as a journalist – tripped up a demonstrator from the “Querdenker” movement, in reaction to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on public authorities not to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, but to promote its ethical use. The use of algorithms should preserve media pluralism and freedom of expression, especially for minority groups. The introduction of artificial intelligence in the media also requires investment in training for journalists. On 11 and 12 May, the Online Conference “Artificial intelligence and the future of journalism: will artificial intelligence take hold of the fourth estate?” took place, joined by more than 300 people around the world. Among the speakers was the president of the…

Dictator Lukashenko‘s regime is intensifying its crackdown on Belarusian journalists and citizens. In the last few days, the police have made several administrative arrests, bringing the number of journalists deprived of their freedom to 16. TUT.BY journalist Lyubov Kasperovich was detained today near the Minsk House of Justice while covering a trial against students. On Thursday, freelance photographer Tatsyana Kapitonava was detained without charges by police as she covered a conference in Startup Family coworking center, in Minsk. Judge Alena Zhukovich sentenced her to 10 days of administrative detention for “participating in an unauthorised demonstration”. On Wednesday, police in Mohilev…

On 23 and 24 June, the EFJ is holding another series of webinars as part of the “Trust and Quality in Journalism” Project. For the agenda and more information, click here. You can register for Day 1 here and for Day 2 here. Below, the pictures and short bios of our experts: Day 1 Jan Siebert holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Human Resource Management and Consulting. He joined Deutsche Welle (DW) in 2016 and is responsible for designing, producing and implementing training programs and e-learning courses and supporting the programming department in strategic personnel…