The presidents of the European commission and council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, will meet on Monday evening Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his decision to open his border to migrants travelling to Europe. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call on European leaders to demand that Erdogan release 94 journalists imprisoned in Turkey for doing their job. Though the number of jailed journalists in Turkey declined slightly, from 110 at the beginning of 2019 to 91 by the close of the year (94 on this date), Turkey remains a highly repressive environment for journalists.…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) submitted on 6 March a position paper to the European Commission (EC) on the implementation of Article 17 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, to ensure protected journalistic works available on online content-sharing service providers (“OCSSPs”) are effectively and fairly remunerated. Article 17 of the new Directive aims to close the “value-gap” between rights-holders and online platforms and to ensure a fair share of the wealth generated by platforms, – tech giants in particular – using protected works, is distributed to creative industries and their authors. The position…

To mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges world governments to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the world of work and help reduce the “unacceptable” level of violence against women journalists. Convention 190 was adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on 10th June 2019 and is now in the process of ratification by Member States. The IFJ and other Global Unions Federations have been battling for several years in support of a convention that would outlaw gender-based violence at work. According to IFJ statistics, 65% of women journalists have…

Politico Europe revealed on 2 March that internal emails were sent to Hungarian state media staff to inform about new editorial rules when reporting about Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, “sensitive topics” and when quoting human rights organisations’ reports. The instructions were dated from the second half of 2019. According to the emails, these new rules require staff to request permission before writing on Greta Thunberg and to send draft content for approval from “higher up” ahead of publication on migration, EU politics, terrorism, church issues. They also explicitly prevent journalists from mentioning reports from Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. The European Federation…

Download the joint statement Physical attacks, online harassment and censorship – In recent days, media freedom organisations have shed light on threats against journalists reporting on the arrival of migrants into Greece. These attacks are taking place in a context of violence against migrants and those supporting them, such as NGOs and self-organised groups. They restrict the ability of journalists to work safely and inform citizens about the humanitarian crisis taking place at the borders of the European Union (EU). A safe environment is essential for journalists to perform their role as watchdogs of democracy. The current situation in Greece…

Last week Swedish citizen and book publisher Gui Minhai was sentenced in China to ten years in prison for espionage. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in calling on the Chinese government to free Gui Minhai. Minhai is a book publisher who was running a publishing house in Hong Kong. He went missing in Thailand in October 2015 and later turned up imprisoned in China on suspicion of illegal business operation – the charges against him changed several times. According to media reports, a court in Ningbo said on Tuesday…

A number of journalists reporting about alleged funding from Hungary of media close to the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) has been facing attacks and threats to their life. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS) in condemning in the strongest terms the “intensive attacks” and calling on the authorities to guarantee a safe environment for journalists. The association has informed about repetitive attempts of discrediting journalists, smear campaigns, death threats, offensive messages on social media, on and offline harassment. The journalists’ association was itself targeted and claimed this wave of attacks is aimed…

March 1st marks a new chapter in the support for journalists under threat – it is the start of the Europe-wide rapid response mechanism (RRM) for violations of press and media freedom. The RRM is conducted by a consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig (ECPMF). The Mechanism is designed to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of press and media freedom in certain EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The consortium consists of the ECPMF, ARTICLE 19, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Institute for Applied…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption of the biggest collective agreement in Finland with Finnmedia, the body that represents the media industry in Finland, negotiated by the Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF). It will cover print newspapers, magazines, all web services and news agencies. The agreement is valid until 31 May 2022. The biggest achievement of the agreement is a pay rise, especially on the lower wages, along with the removal of the extra hours and the restoration of the Christmas holiday break. In addition, the extra hours will be compensated with paid training, a point…

Two columnists of the daily newspaper Yeniçağ, had their phones, Twitter and Gmail accounts hacked after writing an article about the death of Turkish soldiers in Libya. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) and their affiliate DİSK Basın İş condemn the hacking of journalists’ working tools which is a blatant attack on press freedom. On Sunday, February 23, the daily newspaper Yeniçağ announced in a statement that two of its journalists, Batuhan Çolak and Murat Ağırel, fell victim to a cyber attack after publishing an article naming two Turkish soldiers killed in Libya. On Saturday (February 22), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement that…

Lauren Moss, BBC’s South East political editor, was attacked by a member of the public moments before going live on air, on 19 February. The news reporter said on Twitter that she was preparing to broadcast from Brighton (England) when a man threw a cup of hot chocolate over her and used abusive language against the BBC. Someone may not approve of my work or who I work for but I am a journalist just doing my job. Anti-media feeling like this is very concerning for anyone in the industry. — Lauren Moss (@LaurenM0ss) February 19, 2020 Lauren Moss and…

Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), the Spanish public broadcaster, has appointed the journalist, FSC-CCOO affiliate and member of the EFJ Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG), Carolina Pecharromán as the new Equality Editor of TVE, replacing the recently deceased Alicia Gómez Montano. She will start her new position on the 1st of March. Pecharromán‘s mission will be to guarantee equality between men and women in both content and presence on public television and radio, to launch initiatives that will help eliminate malpractices that may occur on RTVE, and to close the existing gender gap in the Spanish public service media. “It is our responsibility…

UPDATE (26.02.2020): The perpetrator has been sentenced on Tuesday 25 February 2020 during an immediate appearance procedure in Arrecife to a fine of 2,410 euros. A restraining order has also been issued for 16 months banning him from approaching the journalist at a distance of less than 300 meters. The man admitted the facts. He has been accused of the crime of sexual abuse and of the slight crime of injury. He must pay compensation for civil liability. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Spanish affiliate FAPE and its member the Asociación de la Prensa de Tenerife (APT)…

Collective bargaining is decreasing considerably in the European Union since 2000. According to the latest figures from the University of Amsterdam, at least 3.3 million workers stoped benefiting from a collective bargaining agreement compared to the beginning of the century. Its coverage has decreased in 22 of the EU’s 27 member states -an average of a 20%-, with the biggest fall registered in Romania (100% to 23%), Greece (100% to 25%) and Bulgaria (56% to 23%). This also leads to a huge disparity across Europe, with just 7% of workers benefiting from collective bargaining in Lithuania compared to 98% in Austria.…

Article originally published on journo.com Google should reconsider its decision to fund a “partisan” and “manipulative” Turkish media group  through its news innovation challenge, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has said yesterday in an open letter. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has backed the call saying that “Google should stop funding unethical media organisations that do not respect the principles of ethical journalism and the worker rights of journalists”. The Google News Initiative (GNI) announced the Demiroren Media Group as the only Turkish applicant selected to be funded through GNI Innovation Challenges, stirring an outcry among Turkey’s embattled journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the digital transformation’s working plan of the European Commission for the next five years unveiled in the report Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, published on 19 February. The European data strategy and the policy options to ensure the human-centric development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the first steps towards achieving these goals.  “Today we are presenting our ambition to shape Europe’s digital future. It covers everything from cybersecurity to critical infrastructures, digital education to skills, democracy to media”, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Commission’s ambition in fostering a Digital Education Action Plan that…