The EFJ together with its Austrian and German members GPA-djp and Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) declare their solidarity with the presenter of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) Armin Wolf, who has been under massive hostility from politicians and supporters of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) for days. The FPÖ is a member of the Austrian government. The trigger was a live interview on ORF 2 on 23 April with FPÖ Secretary General Harald Vilimsky. He was invited as a candidate to the european parliament elections. Wolf compared a cartoon on a FPÖ election poster to one showing a…

The intention of the Austrian Interior Ministry to restrict communication to “critical media” has been revealed in an email leaked to the press on Tuesday 25 September. In the four pages email, top ministry spokesman Christoph Pölzl, explicitly demanded regional police to “restrict communication with these media to only the most necessary (legally required) degree”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Austria, GPA-djp and Younion, in condemning this attack on press freedom. The media labeled as “critical” include the dailies Der Standard and Kurier as well as the weekly Falter. According to the Ministry, they have “operated…

UPDATE 24.09.2018: On 21 September, Max Zirngast has been formally arrested with the accusation of  being a member in the leftist TKP/Kıvılcım group, which Turkey has banned and considers a terrorist organization. Austrian journalist Max Zirngast has been detained together with two other Turkish citizens, in the early hours of 11 September by anti-terror authorities in his apartment in Ankara, Turkey. The reason for detention has not been published yet, but according to media reports, he could have been detained on charges of “support for a terrorist organization” and because of his “political publications”. Allegations might be related to his civil and political activism against…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent a letter to Gernot Blümel, Austrian Minister for the European Union (EU), Art, Culture and Media on 7 June 2018 to urge him to support the Austrian public service media (ORF). The EFJ annual meeting, which took place yesterday in Lisbon with affiliates, journalists and trade unionists from around 40 countries, unanomously adopted the resolution “On the situation of Austrian public service media with letter to the Austrian governement” calling on the Austrian government to ensure the future of the public service media. We stand in solidarity with our Austrian affiliate the Union of…

Vienna: After the first bargaining round for a collective agreement in the daily and weekly newspaper sector, its supplements and editorial digital services for employed journalists, technical workers and freelances, there has not been any consensus with the Austrian Publishers Association (VÖZ). The chairman of the GPA-djp Franz C. Bauer said: There is a shadow over the positive agreement we negotiated last year with the employers. We had agreed that for the next bargaining round we would focus on freelances – our demand for a adequate rise of the fee per line was however refused by the employers.“ The next…

Gewerkschaft GPA Address Alfred-Dallinger-Platz 1 A-1030 Wien President Eike-Clemens Kullmann Phone +43 / (0)5 03 01-301 Email service@gpa.at Secretariat Edgar Wolf – Edgar.Wolf@gpa-djp.at Christina Höferl – Christina.Hoeferl@gpa-djp.at Website Twitter www.gpa-djp.at @GewerkschaftGPA   younion _ Die Daseinsgewerkschaft Address z.Hd.Herrn Thomas Kattnig Maria-Theresien-Strasse, 11 A-1090 Wien Oesterreich President Chairman: Ing. Christian Meidlinger Phone +43/0676-8989 41 111 +43/664-6145406 Email info@younion.at Contact person Thomas Kattnig (Communications Officer) – thomas.kattnig@younion.at Website Twitter www.younion.at @younion_at