The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has expressed concerns over the lack of independence of the Spanish public service broadcaster RTVE following a visit of the EFJ Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG) on Thursday, 28 October in Madrid, Spain. The group has met with representatives of the RTVE News Council (Consejo de informativos), an internal body formed by RTVE journalists “tasked with overseeing the broadcaster’s independence” and whose members are elected by their fellow journalists.   Members of the News Council at the RTVE explained their concerns over the quality and credibility of information and the need to develop measures to prevent…

This speech is given by the EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, at the Speak up 3 Conference: Freedom of expression in the Western Balkans and Turkey, held in Brussels on 4 November 2015.   Media, journalists and their organisations in Western Balkans and Turkey are operating in an environment where a lack of respect for the fundamental rights of journalists poses threat to the safety of journalists and media freedom. An important message that has been echoed from conference to conference like this – it is impossible to have quality, independent journalism without decent working conditions. Labour rights are a prerequisite…

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday afternoon that Finland did not violate a photographer’s right to freedom of expression. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Finnish affiliate, the Union of Journalists in Finland (Suomen Journalistiliitto), consider this decision as a dangerous defeat for freedom of expression. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled by a majority (the President and three other judges expressed a dissenting opinion) that Finland did not violate the freedom of expression of photographer Markus Pentikäinen. This is a disappointing outcome to the nine-year legal battle and…

Thousands of Greek journalists who are members of the EFJ affiliates in Greece are taking part in a 24-hour strike starting from 6 am today against a draft bill on broadcasting licences that will be voted by the Greek Parliament on Saturday, 24 October. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has backed journalists’ unions (JUADN, PFJU, ESPIT and ESIEMTH) in Greece by demanding the government to make changes to the draft bill’s provisions that are affecting the journalistic profession, labour relations and restrict access to information. The draft law stipulates that TV stations will be able to obtain a license…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today welcomed the launch of a new research project by the Council of Europe (CoE) to assess the risk facing journalists across the 47 CoE member states. The EFJ, Reporter without Borders (RSF), International News Safety Institute (INSI) and Index on Censorship, are partners of the project “Journalists at Risk: part of the job?” and a working group to conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative study on unwarranted interference, fear of crime and self-censorship among journalists in Europe, which is one of the most important issues facing the journalism community. The working life of journalists is often…

One year after the Lamy report’s publication and shortly before the World Radiocommunications Conference 2015, senior representatives from broadcasting, network infrastructure, trade unions, viewer groups and media organisations met in Brussels to engage with EU Commissioner in charge of the Digital Single Market Mr Günther Oettinger and Member of the Parliament Mr Pascal Lamy on spectrum policy and the future of Europe’s audiovisual, creative and cultural sector.               Frequencies are at the heart of a future proof audiovisual, radio and live performance sector; with spectrum as a core driver for cultural diversity, creative jobs and growth in the Digital Single Market.…

On the invitation of Jutta Steinruck, German MEP and Rapporteur for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for the opinion on ‘Towards a Digital Single Market’, the EFJ participated in a conference on “Employment and social security in the Digital Single Market: Chances and Challenges”. “We may move towards a trend of casualisation threatening collective bargaining and freedom of association,with increasingly outsourced work”, warned Valerio de Stefano from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The more important it is for unions to organise in the digital economy, to advocate for fundamental rights for all workers and for companies to be…

Journalism seems to be no longer an attractive profession. At least, this seems to be the conclusion suggested by the survey “Evolution and changes in the journalism professions” carried out by the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and the evaluation and prevention of occupational risks office Technologia. The study has analysed the evolution of journalism in France since 2010 and revealed that 34% of journalists respondents said they would quite the profession. The study is the follow-up of a first research “Actual journalists’ work, quality of information and democracy” launched in 2011 by the above organisations. The latest study showed three…

Journalists from across the Balkans and Eastern Europe met in Belgrade (Serbia) on 10-11 October 2015 to discuss the status of journalism in the region and the campaign for freedom of association to enable journalists to freely organise in unions. They discussed the struggles facing journalists, the precariousness of their employment, the low salaries and poor contracts the hostility of employers to journalists unions and the pervading climate of insecurity and fear. This is a struggle not just for improved conditions for journalists, but for a healthy and vibrant journalists sector that can play its democratic role in serving the…

”Two weeks ago I would have been much more pessimistic when it comes to ‘Social Europe’, but it seems that the European Commission led by President Jean-Claude Juncker  is working on a package, which has a strong social dimension, something the EU has lacked dramatically in recent years,” said Thomas Händel (GUE/NGL, Germany), Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Philippe Leruth, Chair of the EFJ Labour Rights Expert Group and EFJ Director Renate Schroeder had a open discussion with the German MEP Händel covering themes such as the increasingly precarious working conditions in the  media and journalism…

The wave of labour organising is increasing in US media companies. On Tuesday, digital journalists at Al Jazeera America voted to organise with the NewsGuild of New York, an IFJ affiliate, in an election prompted after the network failed to recognise the union. In recent months, editorial staff at Gawker, Salon, ThinkProgress and Vice Media have become members of the Writers Guild of America. Staff of Guardian US joined the NewsGuild, so as Al Jazeera America. Journalists at the Huffington Post have also held discussions about unionising. “Staff claim is the same everywhere,” noted Ricardo Gutiérrez, General secretary of the EFJ. “Journalists…

The 13th Congress of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) was held from 30 September to 2 October at the House of Mutuality in Paris. Five hundred delegates attended, discussed and voted some reports on the future of European workder and trade unions in the 39 countries covered by the ETUC. The delegation of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) consisting of three journalists Paco Audije (FAPE, FeSP), Patrick Kamenka (SNJ-CGT) and Jean-François Cullafroz (CFDT-Journalistes). But the Swedish delegation with fifteen members included an EFJ member, Jonas Nordling, president of the Union of Swedish Journalists (Svenska Journalistförbundet). Luca Visentini, the…

Journalists’ unions in the Czech Republic should improve their recruitment policy. That’s one of the main conclusions of the EFJ-OSNPM survey on journalists’ working conditions in the Czech Republic. In the framework of the EFJ/IFJ Regional Development Fund, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Union of Journalists and Media Workers of the Czech Republic (OSNPM) and the Austrian union GPA-djp organised a survey to investigate the working conditions of Czech journalists and media workers. The online survey was launched on 19 May 2015. Around 2,500 journalists and media workers were invited to participate to the survey. Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ…

The European Trade Union Congress (ETUC) in its 13th Congress in Paris on 29 September – 2 October, with the presence of over 700 trade union delegates, have unaminously voted a motion tabled by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Solidarity with Turkish and Kurdish journalists suffering repression. The EFJ welcomes the adoption of the motion and thanks for the support and solidarity expressed by the trade union delegates at the ETUC Congress. The motion reads: For freedom of speech. In recent years journalists, trade unionists and press collaborators in Turkey – a European Union candidate country – have…

How do journalists work in digital media?? The EFJ asks this  question in a European-wide survey drafted by its Expert Group on Digital Media. The EFJ hopes to get a better overview about the working conditions of  “digital journalists” in EU member states and beyond.  How different are contracts, salaries and fees for online journalists? How is work satisfaction? What needs to be improved and what role can the union play to enhance working conditions of journalists working in digital media? Responses to these and many other questions are expected from this survey geared at journalists working for digital media…

“We must support our female colleagues, defend them and make their voices heard. Harassment and abuses targeting at female journalists shall not be tolerated,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, the EFJ President after the OSCE meeting on online abuses of female journalists on 17 November in Vienna. The conference has gathered international experts in the field to help increase understanding and gravity of the issue  involved best practices and possible solutions to tackle the mounting number of online threats targeting female journalists. During the meeting, experts and journalists spoke about the gravity of the issue and called for urgent action to…