The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in partnership with Index on Censorship and Reporters Without Borders, has today (22/07/2015) published a new call for a crowd-sourced approach to map all violations, threats and limitations to media freedom in Europe. The online newsletter available on bit.ly/mappingmediafreedom1 is explaining step by step how to easily report the violations and use the mapping tool for advocacy. Correction for submission link (31/07/2015): https://mappingmediafreedom.org/reports/submit

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…

As the media industry grows more freelances, so the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland is trying to ascertain how to attract freelances into membership. The main question is: What services and benefits could the union offer to freelances that are not covered in our ’10 Reasons’ leaflet ? As everyone agrees, the priority for freelances in the current climate is to find work – work that pays! One of our members has suggested a Freelance Salon, an event with speakers who will discuss how to go beyond the traditional pitch to editors and navigate new…

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the Spanish journalists’ union (FSC-CCOO) will organise a one-day workshop on “Labour Rights for Journalists” on 24 September in Albacete, Spain.   Agenda The workshop will discuss and offer practice tools and exchanges on the following themes: Defending journalists’ rights in the changing working relations and conditions Industrial actions and collective bargaining: Organising and mobilising membership Protection for the vulnerable media workers – young, freelance, female journalists Download the agenda. Practical information Workshop Venue: Hotel Europa (SAN ANTONIO, 39 Albacete , ALBACETE , 02001, España) Transport…

A workshop on atypical workers organised by the International Federation of Actors (FIA) in cooperation with the Dutch actors’ union (FNV KIEM) within the joint project with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and UNI-MEI took place in Amsterdam on 20 May. The participants, union leaders from the creative and media sector, discussed the impact of the changing landscape for workers and the impact on their working conditions and union services across the European Union. Yvonne Dankfurt from the EFJ affiliate in the Netherlands(Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten – NVJ), outlined the programmes offered by NVJ…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has published a special edition newsletter focusing on recruitment news in the framework of the EU funded project Rights and Jobs in Journalism. The newsletter highlights key trends, tips and best practices in recruitment and union services shared by the EFJ affiliates in the workshop held by the Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ) on 11 – 12 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. See the special edition HERE More information (including videos) will be published soon on our website https://europeanjournalists.org/rights-and-jobs-in-journalism-building-stronger-unions-in-europe/ 

Top 10 tips on recruitment and serving membership Membership makes unions stronger. How do unions reach out and engage youth while developing services that cater for the needs of a wide range of membership? This was the theme of the EFJ workshop on “Let’s organise, invest in youth and services” attended by 30 union leaders and recruitment officers from the EFJ affiliates on 10 – 11 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants raised the need to adapt recruitment strategies and services to respond to the changing landscape and labour market in journalism and media. Here are the top 10 tips and…

Frederike Geerdink, freelance journalist and correspondent in Turkey, is to appear before the court in Diyarbakir, Turkey on Wednesday 8 April. Early January, Geerdink was arrested and held for a short time. According to the authorities in Turkey, Geerdink is accused of spreading propaganda for the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey. The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the arrest and prosecution of Geerdink saying that the charge against Geerdink is in violation of international law and treaties ratified by the Turkish government on freedom of…

Board members of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), together with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), organised this weekend (21-22 March 2015) in Istanbul the union’s third Strategic & Development workshop in a year. This was an opportunity for the new board (elected at the TGS Congress in December 2013) to evaluate their recruitment and development strategies, identify new areas of potential growth, reassess all ongoing projects with partners and take the necessary steps to move forward. Although Turkey’s Constitution affirms the right of workers to form labour unions “without obtaining permission”, “to possess…

“Why do they leave journalism?” – This is the question asked to 38 former journalists by journalism student Hélène Brédart in a project initiated at the Université de Liège and reproduced by Jean-François Dumont of the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists (AJP, member of EFJ). The results of the project published in the latest edition of the monthly Journalistes by the AJP show that the deteriorating working conditions and practices in journalism make are major reason why journalists left the profession. The most frequently mentioned reasons for journalists to leave their job are: • Increasing workload: The digital development and restructuring measures are putting…

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the Danish Journalists’ Union will organise a two-day workshop on “Let’s organise, invest in youth and skills” on 11 – 12 May in Copenhagen, Denmark.   Agenda The workshop will discuss and offer practice tools and exchanges on the following themes: Job losses vs job growth: What is the trend in jobs and skills in journalism? Five steps to restore sustainable jobs in European media Recruitment strategies: How to reach out to the youth and new types of workers? Creating Europe’s…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) last week sent journalist Barry White (NUJ UK) to observe the new press trials in Turkey, 29 – 31 January. Barry White, also a member of the EFJ Steering Committee, was joined by Mustafa Kuleli (General Secretary of the Journalists Union of Turkey, TGS), atthe first hearing against journalists Can Dündar (Cumhuriyet), Utku Çakirözer (Cumhuriyet), Hakan Gülseven (Yurt) and Nazli Ilicak (Bugün). The journalists are being sued by the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his wife Emine and son Bilal for violation of privacy and defamation following their…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) kicked off a two-year project “Rights and jobs in journalism” in a preparatory meeting held in Brussels with project partners. The project’s steering committee and representatives from four partner organisations (Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, Slovenian Association of Journalists, Federacion de servicios a la ciudadania de CC.OO, Danish Union of Journalists) discussed what measures can be taken to improve the capacity of unions in protecting the professional rights of journalists and reaching out to new members. Louise Theil, the recruitment officer of the Danish Journalists’ Union presented its recruitment strategy to the participants and…

The European Federation of Journalists, in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)  and the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA), will organised a lunch debate on freedom of speech and the media in the wake of the Paris shooting at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. We will discuss how journalists and media should feed the debate, and discuss the conditions needed for them to work freely. Social cohesion, media independence, ethical codes, self-regulation and editorial lines are at stake when dealing with highly sensitive and emotional subjects. How can journalists express their opinions, inform and capture the mood of their…

The EFJ has today welcomed in Brussels a delegation composed from the Turkish Publishers Association, the Swedish Publishers’ Association, the International Publishers Association and EMHRN. The working group’s agenda was focused on the legal framework in terms of freedom to publish in Europe, examples of restrictions and bans in the EU countries, the experience of European organizations in terms of freedom to publish in the context of the Western Balkans enlargement. The working group compared strategies, discussed concrete examples of advocacy tactics and ways to monitor the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice…

The European Federation of Journalists’ (EFJ) President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, and the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) President, Jim Boumelha, signed today a “memorandum of understanding” on the creation of an online safety platform for journalists with the Council of Europe and three other media freedom partner agencies. The event took place during a conference jointly organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the French Senate at the Palais du Luxembourg, in Paris. Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Article 19 and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) also signed the memorandum. The conference has involved many…