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…

The Finnish public broadcasting company Yle has announced on Monday 3 November about the imminent plan to reduce at least 185 permanent jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. Following the announcement, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Initiates has sent a letter to CEO, Mr Lauri Kivinen, and the management team of Yle, calling on them to engage in dialogue with the journalists’ union, Suomen Journalistiliitto. According to Yle, the cost-cutting measures were introduced as a result of a funding shortfall. Earlier this year, the Finnish Parliament has decided to freeze an inflation-related increase on the so-called Yle tax…

The Journalists’ Union of Finland has concluded a new collective agreement for around 4500 journalists and media workers in the print media and news agencies in the country. ‘‘I congratulate our affiliate on the successful negotiation of the new collective agreement under the challenging environment,’’ said Ricardo Gutierrez, EFJ General Secretary. The new agreement reached on 1 October will cover journalists working for online news website and media which was challenged by the employers. Although the union has made a small victory for the salary of journalists by achieving a moderate increase of 1.34% after 26 months, the union has…