Police prevented the work of journalists and attempted to detain the cameraman Hayk Sukiasyan of Yerkir Media TV during a protest in Yerevan, on 1 December. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate, the Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA), in strongly condemning these incidents and urges the authorities to investigate the case. Gegham Manukyan, director of the TV station’s political and media programs, said that the police had arrested Sukiasyan and put him in the car by force before being released shortly after. During the scuffle, a camera belonging to Yerkir Media was broken. A policeman said…

The European Federation of Journalist and the International Federation of Journalists welcome the confirmation from the UK government that foreign journalists traveling to the UK will be exempted from the country’s quarantine restrictions from 4 am on Saturday 5th December if they hold an IFJ International Press Card. The new rules were secured thanks to negotiations involving our affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “This is welcome news for all those journalists who cross borders as part of their work, at a time when news and reporting is more important than ever. It’s a…

Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, presented today the European Democracy Action Plan to empower citizens and build more resilient democracies across the EU. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the Action Plan and its concrete provisions to strengthen media freedom and pluralism, but calls for stronger regulation of Tech Giants, while protecting freedom of expression. The Action Plan sets out measures to strengthen media freedom and counter disinformation in the European Union. More concretely, the Commission will recommend measures to promote safety of journalists and present an initiative to protect them from strategic lawsuits against public participation…

TV Journalist Violetta Tovkes was attacked by an unknown man in the middle of a live broadcast on 28 November, resulting in severe damage to her equipment. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), condemn these acts and called for an end to any kind of aggression against journalists in the line of duty. Ms. Tovkes, a reporter for the national TV channel NewsOne, was attacked in the middle of a broadcast in Kiyv during a ceremony honoring the Holodomor victims. This killing, which took place between 1932 and 1933 and left from three to 12…

A coalition of about 60 non-governmental organisations from across Europe published on 1 December 2020 a proposal for an EU-anti SLAPP directive. This text is the result of several months of work involving civil society organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and national journalists’ trade unions, to urge policy makers to protect public watchdogs such as journalists, rights defenders, activists and whistleblowers from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). SLAPP suits are a form of legal harassment. Pursued by law firms on behalf of powerful individuals and organisations who seek to avoid public scrutiny, their aim is to…

WEBINARS Trust in media Audience Engagement & Artificial Intelligence The Online Seminars on 25 and 26 March are moving closer. We have already updated the agenda and preliminary reading suggestions list. Now we would like to introduce you to our confirmed speakers who will join for the two days of discussions. The seminars will take place on two days: On the first day, Thursday 25 March, experts will be dealing with the question of how to regain trust and improve audience engagements. On the second day, Friday  26 March, panelists will discuss the topic of innovations in the newsrooms, covering how media…

As the vote on the first reading of the “Global Security” law achieved a majority in the French National Assembly on Tuesday 24 November, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), as well as other representatives from the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) called on the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, to withdraw three articles from the text, and on journalists and democracy activists to demonstrate on Saturday 28 November. On Monday 23 November, a coalition composed of the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), together with their French affiliates, the SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalists, and several journalists’ societies,…

After Polish MEP Magdalena Adamowicz (EPP) presented a passionate call for the report on strengthening media freedom: the protection of journalists in Europe, hate speech, disinformation and the role of platforms in plenary, the European Parliament adopted today with a great majority the report, which was first drafted in February this year. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has fully supported the draft and given its input throughout the process. The own-initiative report focuses on six principal areas which are all intertwined: media freedom and pluralism, political independence of the media, the protection of journalists, financial and economic pressure, hate speech and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the International Press Institute (IPI) and the partner organisation of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in sending an open letter on 17 November to the government of the Czech Republic raising concerns about its side-lining of critical media during press conferences. The letter comes after journalists from certain outlets, including one of the country’s biggest independent media outlet Forum 24, have been denied accreditation to attend press conferences since March 2020 without further explanation. “We note that this worrying situation persists despite recent pledges by both the Prime Minister and the Ministry…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined its affiliate in Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in demanding the immediate release of TUT.BY reporter Katsiaryna Barysevich. She was arrested on 19 November while investigating the death of 31-year old Raman Bandarenka due to serious injuries caused by the brutality of plain clothed policemen. On 19 November, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced the initiation of a criminal case due to “disclosure of medical secrets” and “provision of false information” on Raman Bandarenka’s death. According to the press service of the department, “the suspects have been detained.” The police searched…

More and more journalists and civil society organisations are being sued by powerful businessmen and politicians via strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined a coalition of 87 organisations calling on the EU to ensure those with a watchdog role are protected from such gag lawsuits. The English version of the following Op-ed was published on EURACTIV on 16 November 2020. The full list of signatories is to be found at the bottom. One hot spring afternoon in Malta, a journalist drove up to her house to find a court marshall duct-taping hundreds of sheets…

The car belonging to James Cruickshank, the publisher of The Digger magazine, was firebombed in Glasgow in the night of Sunday 1 November. During the same night, unknown individuals tried to intimidate about 30 shops to stop selling the publication. The Digger reports on organised crime in Glasgow. Together with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and the International Press Institute as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, the European Federation of Journalists condemned in a statement the arson attack and attempted intimidation. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) called on the Scottish authorities to hunt down…

Why does Google invest so much in publishing houses? How does this funding affect media pluralism and editorial independence? How can “new work” create a better atmosphere for workers, particularly during Covid-19? These and other issues were discussed during our latest Digital Expert Group (DEG) meeting on 16 November, which took place online. In their recently published study “Google, the media patron: How the digital giant ensnares journalism“, journalists  Alexander Fanta and Ingo Dachwitz investigated the motivations behind Google’s huge financial investments and how these may influence the media landscape. They shared their findings based on 25 guided interviews, a data analysis…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the awarding of the First Canada-UK Media Freedom Award to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). BAJ was nominated for the award by the EFJ and International Media Support (IMS). BAJ was singled out for its ongoing commitment to journalistic ethics and principles and its perseverance and self-sacrifice in the face of increased targeted crackdowns on media in Belarus. The announcement was made jointly during this year’s Global Conference for Media Freedom, held virtually on November 16, 2020, and hosted by Canada and Botswana. “It is vital that journalists, wherever they work in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate in the UK, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), in condemning the detention of Julian Assange pending his extradition proceedings. We call on journalists’ organisations in Europe to support the NUJ’s DEA campaign to draw to broad attention concern about the implications of this lawsuit for free speech. The EFJ joins the NUJ in further condemning the attempted use of the US Espionage Act to prosecute Assange for his work exposing the war crimes committed by US service personnel in the Iraq and Afghan war logs. The Espionage Act has also…

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), with French unions SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes, are concerned about a legislative proposal currently pending in the French parliament, which would make it illegal to disseminate images of law enforcement officers of the national police and gendarmerie. We call on the members of Parliament to delete the proposed text. Legislative proposal No. 3452 on global security was introduced by Members of Parliament of the presidential majority on 20 October 2020. The text proposes a host of legislative…