The press councils from Belgium, Finland and Germany released a joint podcast exploring two important cases that show what reporting standards like truthfulness and the protection of victims mean for everyday life reporting. The two episodes are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Truthfulness, human dignity and corrections of mistakes: these are the main standards followed by most professional media in Europe. But what do these standards mean for everyday reporting? For example, how do journalists cover accidents and human tragedies without hurting the victims’ dignity? And how do they differentiate themselves from disinformation via social media?  The first episode entitled ‘A traffic…

To mark World Press Freedom Day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners have just published two calls for Expression of Interest as part of the Media Councils in the Digital Age project, whose objective is to support media self-regulation bodies in addressing the new challenges of the digital age. These calls for Expression of Interest are the first step leading to the award of two grants of 15,000€ which will be provided to newly established press councils and also journalists’ associations, media organisations and/or a consortium of both based in the European Union. The financial support aims to strengthen…

The management of the French weekly Valeurs Actuelles and the French Union of Magazine Publishers (SEPM) have launched legal proceedings against the French press council, (‘Conseil de déontologie journalistique et de médiation, CDJM’), the independent body that mediates between journalists, media, news agencies and the public on all matters relating to journalistic ethics in France.  The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) denounce this attempt to torpedo the CDJM and reaffirm their support for a body that aims to restore trust and improve professional ethics. The court will examine the case on 2 February initiated by Valeurs Actuelles on…

The Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations and the four journalism schools in French-speaking Belgium today released two reports looking at journalists’ and journalism students’ perceptions of self-regulation bodies, ethical standards and challenges they face in the digital age. The findings show that more dialogue and awareness is needed to apprehend ethics in today’s journalism. The Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations collected data on the perception of media councils by working journalists and how they adapt themselves to the challenges in the digital age. More than 400 working journalists from Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,…

After a successful year regarding the EU-supported Media Councils projects, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) hosted an online webinar on 11 January 2021 to talk about the achievements and the next phase. Three members of the European Parliament, Petra Kammerevert, Ramona Strugariu and Alexandra Geese, Deputy Head of Unit (DG Connect) Audrius Perkauskas and four consortium members discussed and exchanged respective insights and best practices. The EFJ is the coordinating partner bringing together several European press councils and two universities. Renate Schroeder, Director at the EFJ, moderated the event, which she kicked off by emphasising that self-regulation and press…

As to discuss last year’s achievements regarding the EU supported EFJ Media Councils project and to talk about the next phase, on 11 January 2021, an informal online webinar will take place from 11 AM until 12:30 PM Brussels time. Together with three members of the European Parliament, Petra Kammerevert, Ramona Strugariu and Alexandra Geese, four consortium members will highlight some of their respective results in the panel. The European Federation of Journalists is the coordinating partner bringing together several European press councils and two universities. The speakers and their respective topics are listed in more detail in the agenda…

The Austrian and German Press Councils release today their Media Literacy Toolkit for teachers and students which consist of six case studies and roleplay exercises identified by European Press Councils from Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland and Germany. Media literacy is more important than ever for today’s youth in this age of disinformation. The future citizens must be taught how to navigate the modern news landscape. Young people also need to be helped to have the critical literacy skills needed to identify a credible news story. The case studies of the Media Literacy Toolkit deal with various ethical problems in the context of…

The Council for Mass Media in Finland published today a new report on self-regulation in the emerging era of news automation. While news automation and personalisation have become more common in recent years, it has received little attention from Press and Media Councils which have not faced major ethical problems so far. However, the report suggests that in the future self-regulatory guidance on news automation is likely to be needed.  The report introduces the present state of affairs in news automation and discusses what ethical considerations it raises. Based on a European-wide research project, the key takeaways are as follows:…