Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades has begun, following a four-year long investigation into the Calabrian organised crime syndicate ‘Ndrangheta and its alleged affiliates networks, in Italy and abroad. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Italian Federation of Journalists’ unions (FNSI) and the Union of RAI journalists (USIGRai) condemned the decision of judges to ban cameras from their courtroom. Not allowing video recordings of Court proceedings means denying a pillar of the story. It also means preventing the construction of the memory of a historical fact for Italy and Europe. This is what is happening in the “Rinascita…

The repression of journalists continues to intensify in Belarus, in a context of passivity on the part of the international community. On 2 March, at 4 p.m., the Moskovsky District Court of Minsk announced its verdict. It convicted TUT.BY journalist Katerina Borisevich and doctor Artem Sorokin. They are accused of disclosing medical secrets. Katerina Borisevich was sentenced to six months in prison and a fine, Artem Sorokin to two years in prison with a one-year suspension and a fine. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns a court decision that violates press freedom and freedom of access to information.…

Registration The European Federation of Journalists invites you to attend the first MFRR Summit taking place online between 17th and 20th March. Locked Down: Protecting Europe’s Free Press will feature keynote speeches by Irene Khan and Věra Jourová, and bring together 32 journalists and experts from 16 countries to explore the threats facing media freedom in Europe across eight panels and two workshops. The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) monitors, tracks and responds to media freedom violations in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. In its first year, through Mapping Media Freedom, 378 alerts (with 1159 attacked persons or entities related…

A photographer for the regional daily L’Union, Christian Lantenois, was seriously injured on Saturday 27 February while covering tensions in the Croix-Rouge district of Reims. Lantenois is currently in the intensive care unit in Reims’ hospital in a serious condition. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/FIJ) strongly condemn this despicable act. An investigation has been opened for attempted murder. Christian Lantenois, 65 years old, went to Croix-Rouge on Saturday 27 February at around 3 pm in a car identifiable as belonging to the newspaper L’Union to cover the tensions in the district. The photographer was found shortly afterwards, in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 15 media freedom groups and associations in again urging the EU’s Competition Commissioner to swiftly address concerns over media market distortions in Hungary. The group notes the continuing deterioration of media pluralism in Central Europe and renew their call to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager to open a prompt investigation into pending state aid complaints. The Commission’s lack of enforcement of market rules in Hungary, the groups said, is not only allowing the situation there to worsen but now also empowering the deliberate distortion of the media market in Poland, with…

Kosovo Investigative journalist Visar Duriqi was left with a broken nose and teeth following an assault by three masked men on 25 February. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined their affiliate in Kosovo, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), in condemning the brutal attack. Visar Duriqi, a journalist at online news portal Insajderi, was on his way home after attending a live TV debate, shortly after midnight, when three unknown people wearing masks assaulted him in front of his apartment. Duriqi suffered severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. The police has launched an investigation…

Vincent Muscat, one of the three presumed murderers of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after pleading guilty at the latest hearing into her killing in 2017. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) welcomed the decision and urged the authorities to continue to pursue others involved in her murder. Muscat, an alleged hitman in a contract to kill the journalist, is believed to have negotiated a more lenient sentence in exchange for supplying state prosecutors with information on others involved. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s reporting focused on high-level corruption, including investigations into the Panama Papers in 2016. She was murdered in a…

The General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists Ricardo Gutiérrez gave the keynote speech today at the Socialists & Democrats online event on media freedom and artistic freedom. He called on MEPs to push member state governments to adopt concrete measures to protect journalists. Here is the speech of the EFJ General Secretary: Freedom of the press and artistic freedom are two essential dimensions of one and the same fundamental right: freedom of expression. This freedom has been under pressure in Europe for years. And the context of the fight against the pandemic has not helped. In the last…

Journalismfund.eu reopens its European Cross-border grant programme to support independent cross-border investigative journalism. With this programme Journalismfund.eu aims to further contribute to the development of a vital European public sphere by enabling investigations into issues of common interest to European citizens. The awarded programme, running since 2009, supports professional journalists who have good ideas for cross-border investigations with a focus on European topics. Cross-border teams can apply for a grant to cover working time and expenses for their joint investigation. Next to a grant, teams can also apply for a mentor to provide assistance with either the focus of the investigation or the need for competences…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in expressing serious concern about the sharp decline in freedom of the press in the European Union. We sent a letter today to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel: Dear President Michel, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are profoundly concerned by the increasing threats and attacks against journalists. 2020 was an unfortunate record year: MFRR recorded 245 alerts (with 873 attacked persons or entities related to media) in 22 EU Member States, and the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism recorded 115…

From July to October 2020, attacks on media freedom in Europe took many forms, as the Media Freedom Rapid Response’s second monitoring report documents. Besides anti-lockdown demonstrations and online harassment, the impact of legal actions (SLAPPs) contributed to a hostile climate for journalists and media workers. Find all the details in the second MFRR-report. The four-month snapshot of media threats in EU member states and Candidate countries was produced by the Media Freedom Rapid Response partners, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and International Press Institute (IPI), with support from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). The 114…

The solidarity meeting with the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) organised online by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) brought together 41 representatives of 29 national journalists’ organisations from 22 European countries (1) on Thursday. The participants unanimously condemned the increasing repression of journalists by the dictatorial regime of the illegitimate President Lukashenko. They demanded the immediate release of the 11 journalists imprisoned in Belarus for doing their job. The EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, called on EFJ affiliates to intensify actions in support of BAJ. Many participants sent letters of protest to the Belarusian embassies in their countries, as…

Catarina Andreeva and Darja Chulcova, two journalists for Belsat, the Polish satellite television station aimed at Belarus, have each been sentenced on 18 February to two years in prison for reporting live from an anti-government rally in Minsk in November. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) and their affiliate in Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), strongly condemn the criminalisation of journalism by President Lukashenko‘s regime and call on the international community to react firmly. In accordance with the request of prosecutor Alina Kasyanchyk, judge Natallya Buhuk of the Frunze district court in Minsk, sentenced Catarina Andreeva and Darja Chulcova after finding…

The second edition of the Stars4Media exchange and training programme is now open for media professionals from different EU countries who wish to develop new editorial products or test innovative ideas. The call for application will run until 1 July 2021. The EU-funded programme is born with the ambition to make the media sector more sustainable by fostering innovation and quality journalism and building new partnerships between media organisations across Europe. The first edition started at the end of 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a turbulent year, it successfully supported 105 media professionals from 42 media outlets in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) demand Belarusian authorities to stop immediately the persecution of journalists and the prosecution of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). At least 30 journalists and human rights defenders were targeted in police raids today. Early in the morning of 16 February, BAJ press secretary Barys Haretski was briefly detained by Belarusian security forces. BAJ’s lawyer Aleh Aheyeu and BAJ’s president Andrei Bastunets were also detained to witness the search of BAJ’s offices. Other searches and raids were under way Tuesday morning at the homes and offices of…

As about 45 private media outlets went off the air in Poland on Wednesday 10 February, running blank pages for 24h in protest against a proposed media advertising tax, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) published today a new report documenting the multi-pronged attack on independent media by the government since 2015 to muzzle critical reporting and undermine watchdog journalism. The report, Democracy Declining: Erosion of Media Freedom in Poland, is published in English and Polish and presents the findings of the international press freedom mission carried out virtually by the seven partners of the MFRR between November and December…