The Lithuanian Journalists Union (LZS) and Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) are organizing the conference “The challenges of legal regulation of public information and self-regulation for professional journalism”, in Vilnius, on 21-22 of March. In the evening of 22 March, Lithuanian journalists will celebrate 90th anniversary of LZS. The EFJ GS Ricardo Gutiérrez will attend the conference.

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have jointly sent a letter today to the Prime Minister of Lithuania and the Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament). EFJ and ECPMF demand that the government ensure the independence of the Lithuanian public broadcaster (LRT), as proposed changes to the law threaten to curtail it. Here is our joint letter to demand to guarantee the full independence of LRT: Dear Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, Dear Viktoras Pranckietis, Copy: Ramunas Karbauskis, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Viktorija Cmilyte, Andrius Palionis, Julius Sabatauskas, Remigijus Zemaitaitis, Rita Tamasuniene We are…

The EFJ President will deliver a speech on media regulation situation and ethics in Europe, with a special focus on Nordic countries.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on again Lithuanian Parliament to guarantee the full independence of public broadcaster LRT. The Director General of LRT, Monika Garbaciauskaite, issued today a letter expressing strong concern about proposed legal changes in LRT governance. A new draft law on LRT is to be debated by the Lithuanian Parliament on 11 January. “The latest developments that are now taking place may have a direct impact on LRT’s independence and at the same time pose serious threats to freedom of speech and democracy on the whole,” reacted Monika Garbaciauskaite. Following the report, issued on 12…

The EFJ GS Ricardo Gutiérrez will attend the 17th Congress of the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union (LZS).

The conference is co-organised by the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union (LZS) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. The EFG GS Ricardo Gutiérrez will deliver the opening speech on Sunday.

Journalists and editors have written to the Lithuanian Centre of Registers complaining about the recent policy to restrict media’s access to public data. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) criticises the Centre for restricting free press and supports the requests made by the journalists to the Lithuanian government. On 14 September, the Lithuanian Centre of Registers ended its long-time practice of providing the media with registry data free of charge. This happened without any prior notice to the media. Since the new policy implemented, registry data are provided to the media for the same fees as those paid by other commercial users.…

Independence of Public Service Media (PSM) in Europe is under increased pressure in a number of the EU Member States. Destabilization of this democratic institution in the context of the overall challenges in Europe and weakening of other democratic institutions, such as political parties represents a real threat to the democracy in Europe. The PSM in Hungary is under the full control of Orban. In 2016 a political cleansing took place in the public service broadcaster in Poland followed by a political purge in the Croatian broadcaster. Recently the Czech Television is under pressure for rejection of their annual report,…