To bring some action to its usually serious – and sometimes dull – documents, the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) of the Council of Europe (CoE) also met this week, in Strasbourg, with the six winners of a Spanish school comics competition on human rights and Internet. It is not sure that the kids would indeed “make sure to be safe online for the rest of their life”, as one of the children told the meeting, but the contribution of young Internet users definitely brought a fresh tone to the meeting. Good news: Online platform working On…

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, presented today in Strasbourg his annual activity report 2014. The Commissioner is concerned by the “increased pressure against NGOs and the media in many Council of Europe member states”. Nils Muižnieks quoted the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in his report. Here are some excerpts. “NGOs and the media play an extremely important role in safeguarding human rights more broadly. Where large parliamentary majorities govern and other checks and balances are weakened, NGOs and the media are often the sole remaining watchdogs able and willing to keep the authorities accountable before the law.…

Following months of preparation and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on 4 December 2014 with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and other media partners, the Council of Europe (CoE) has officially launched today an online platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. The platform aims to improve the protection of journalists, better address threats and violence against media professionals and foster early warning mechanisms and response capacity within the Council of Europe. Whenever there is a physical attack on journalists or legal threat to media freedom, such violations…

This Monday (19/01/2015), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) attended a meeting organised by the Press Club Brussels Europe on ethical reporting.  Aidan White, Director of the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), an organisation of which the EFJ is a member, was invited to talk about the “Ethics of reporting the Charlie Hebdo killings and the challenges for journalists”. White was introduced by Peter Nicolaas Kramer, President of the Press Club Brussels Europe, and Maria Laura Franciosi, member of the Press Club Brussels Europe. “There is a major crisis in the media industry today,” started Aidan White (EJN). “We need to…