The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has denounced the latest attack and arrest of journalists who were reporting the refugee crisis on the border between Hungary and Serbia today. Six journalists were reportedly beaten  on Wednesday by Hungarian border police. According to local media reports, Warren Richardson, an Australian photographer, and Jacek Tacik, a Polish reporter together with a Slovakian journalist were accused of crossing the border between Hungary and Serbia illegally. They were beaten before they were arrested by the border police. The journalists had been working in the Serbian village of Horgoš and followed a group of refugees who entered…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) will be jointly hosting the conference ‘Turkey: Fighting for journalists’ rights and freedoms in a politically polarized country’ in Istanbul 17/18 September 2015. This international conference is the culmination of five years campaigning on journalists’ rights, freedoms, working conditions and capacity building for the journalist trade union organisation whose strength is fundamental to the future protection and promotion of Turkish journalism. The political context in which the conference will be taking place could not be…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) have called for stronger rights for freelance workers and the need to enforce their fundamental rights to collective bargaining in national and European legislations. The call came after a workshop hosted by the NUJ on Collective bargaining for atypical workers in the audio-visual and live performance sector as part of a capacity building project organised by the EFJ, the International Federation of Actors (FIA), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and UNI-MEl. Participants including unions leaders from the-above federations and legal…

According the NVJ (Dutch Journalists Association, EFJ-IFJ affiliate), Frederike Geerdink, a Dutch correspondent based in Diyarbakir (Turkey), has today (10/09/2015) been deported by the Turkish authorities to Amsterdam after being detained two days for reporting on a Kurdish group protesting clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and the Turkish military. The Turkish authorities are accusing the Dutch reporter of “hindering a military operation and supporting a terrorist organisation”. Frederike Geerdink lived Turkey since 2006 and has been based in Diyarbakir since 2012 where she writes about Turkish and Kurdish matters for Dutch and international media as well as a critical…

The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz has met with a delegation of creators’ organisations including the EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård and presidents of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ESCA), Euroepan Writers Council and the Federation of Europeam Film Directors (FERA) and the European Federation of Screenwriters (FSE) to discuss the upcoming Digital Single Market Strategy being prepared by the European Commission. The delegation highlighted the importance of strong authors’ rights protection in the current intellectual property rights debate, the role of creators in European economy and the need to foster cultural diversity. During the meeting, Blicher…

Update (20.08.2015) The European Federation of Journalists sent today a letter to Politico CEO Jim VandeHei expressing its concern about news reports suggesting that Mike Elk, Labor reporter at Politico and co-author of the Louisville Statement, has been fired. Politico confirmed, on Thursday, Mike Elk’s departure, saying it has “nothing to do with his union activities”. Supported by his union, Mike Elk replied that he is on vacation until September 1st: he considers he is still an employee of Politico. ———- Over 12,000 jobs have disappeared from the US media industry, over the last decade. But according to Pew Research Center’s count, 5,000 full-time…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined the Italian organisation on Carta di Roma welcoming the new initiative launched by the Italy newspaper La Stampa to counter hate speech. The EFJ has called on media professionals to be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by the media through hate speech following recent debates and media coverage on “migrant crisis” in Europe. Ricardo Gutiérrez, the EFJ General Secretary said, “Journalists should dare to denounce and confront hate speech publicly. They have the ethical responsibility to counter racist and discriminatory messages and comments that incite hatred, violence or insult…

The American Press Institute presented on Thursday the results of a survey of nearly 10,500 journalism and communication graduates from 22 universities across the United States. These graduates are pessimistic about the direction of news in general, but most believe their own work in the last five years has gotten better. The survey found that while just 41% of journalism graduates are employed by news organisations, sizable minorities in other fields still look at themselves as journalists: 22% work for commercial brands, 16% in education and 14% in politics and think tanks. Among the 36% employed in journalism organisations, there…

updated (04/08/2015): Latest on netzpolitik treason scandal: German Justice Minister Heiko Maas effectively sacks Federal Prosecutor Harald Range. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its European organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), have today called on the German government to immediately drop the investigation launched against two journalists, Andre Meister and Markus Beckedahl, over suspicion of treason. Following widespread criticism of the decision, the German prosecutor General Harald Range said on Friday that he was suspending the investigation, pending external expertise, “for the good of press and media freedom”. However, the IFJ and the EFJ are demanding that charges be…

updated (04/08/2015): Latest on netzpolitik treason scandal: German Justice Minister Heiko Maas effectively sacks Federal Prosecutor Harald Range. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its European organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), have today called on the German government to immediately drop the investigation launched against two journalists, Andre Meister and Markus Beckedahl, over suspicion of treason. Following widespread criticism of the decision, the German prosecutor General Harald Range said on Friday that he was suspending the investigation, pending external expertise, “for the good of press and media freedom”. However, the IFJ and the EFJ are demanding that charges be…

Working as freelance journalists can be considered as a crime in Belarus. Since the beginning of this year, the Belarusian authority has filed 24 cases (see infographic below) against freelance journalists imposing fines for their works. In all the cases, the journalists are accused of violating article 22.9 of the administrative code (unlawful production and distribution of mass media products). According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the total sum of the fines imposed on journalists so far this year amounted to 117 million Belarusian rubles (over 6.000 EUR). The EFJ…

Alongside their Spanish affiliates, the Federation of Journalists Unions (FeSP), the Spanish Press Federations of Journalists Associations (FAPE) and Periodistas de CCOO (FSC-CCOO),  the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), express their concern over the missing of three Spanish freelance journalists in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. FAPE President Elsa Gonzalez told media that José Manuel López, Antonio Pampliega and Ángel Sastre entered Syria from Turkey on July 10 and were last heard from on July 12. The three journalists were reporting from the northwestern Aleppo region, a city divided between rebel…

The UK’s High Court has ruled that parts of the controversial surveillance law, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA), violated article 7 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the personal data protection laws. The EFJ affiliate in the UK, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), has long been campaigning against DRIPA to ensure that the right of journalists to protect their confidential sources is protected. On Friday 17 July, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales found that UK surveillance laws are incompatible with the European convention on human rights and the EU charter…

In Portugal the EFJ affiliate, the Sindicato dos Jornalistas‘s newly elected board initiated a freelance campaign starting with a survey about the situation of freelance journalists in Portugal, something which had not been conducted since 2001. In Portugal, trade unions still regard freelances as a new and sometimes unaccepted work form. The union had asked its members registered as freelancers (almost 10% of the total membership) to answer an online questionnaire. The main results which were recently discussed within the membership (see picture above), are the following: Age: average age is 41; Gender: 61.3% are men; 38;7% are female Employment…

The UK government is planning to introduce anti-trade union laws that will restrict strikes and hamper the basic human rights of workers, says the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), an EFJ affliate in the UK. According to the NUJ, the proposed bill aimed at curtailing trade union activity would impose a minimum 50% turnout in strike ballots, with public sector unions requiring at least 40% of those eligible to vote. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: “Forget the language of fairness and rights being peddled by the Tories – this is the most cynical of attacks designed to finish what…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) strongly condemn the attack on journalist Sashe Ivanovski by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Vladimir Peshevski, on 15 July. The EFJ demands the Macedonian authorities to bring the attacker to justice. Ivanovski is a journalist working for an online portal. According to media reports, Ivanovski was attacked while he was questioning Mr. Peshevski on a recent wiretapping scandal in Macedonia. The attack was recorded and widely reported in the media in Macedonia. The EFJ says, “Such behaviours towards journalists are utterly unacceptable. Violence against journalists…