Russia: business daily Vedomosti targeted by pro-Kremlin censorship

Journalists at Vedomosti, one of Russia’s most prominent business publications, have demanded the removal of editor in chief, Andrei Shmarov, for pro-Kremlin censorship. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) to urge Vedomosti’s ownership to protect the independence of media professionals and respect press freedom. In March, Vedomosti was sold to Konstantin Zyatkov, the publisher of Argumenty i Fakty, a weekly newspaper owned by the Moscow government, and to the businessman Alexei Golubovich, an oligarch and former top executive at the Yukos oil company. In the following…

Russia: journalist’s house attacked

Russian journalist Yulia Latynina’s home in Moscow was attacked and sprayed with an unknown substance on Tuesday 18 July. The International and the European Federations of journalists (IFJ/EFJ) join their affiliates the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in condemning the attack. On the evening of 18 July, a group of unidentified attackers covered the home of opposition journalist Yulia Latynia with a corrosive and odorous chemical compound that caused breathing problems for the occupants. The journalist reported to Ekho Moskvy radio station that 8 people including 4 elderly persons and 2 children were affected. Yulia Latynina, a prominent journalist and fierce critic…

Russia: IFJ/EFJ express their condolences following death of journalist Nicolay Andrushchenko

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have joined the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in expressing their deepest condolences to the newspaper Noviy Petersburg after the death of its investigative journalist and co-founder of the newspaper Nicolay Andrushchenko who died on 19 April in Mariinsky hospital at the age of 73. The IFJ has also backed calls for a full investigation in to his death. Andruschenko was a prominent journalist famous for his investigative reporting on such dangerous topics as local crime, corruption, and police brutality. He was reported to have been severely beaten by unidentified…

Russia: “Novaya Gazeta” journalists threatened by Chechen religious and public leaders

UPDATE (19.04.2017): Newspaper Novaya Gazeta received today an envelope containing an unidentified white powder. The envelope’s return address was “Grozny,” the capital of Chechnya, where preachers and political officials have recently threatened the newspaper for reporting on the alleged torture and detention of men suspected of homosexuality. ——————— The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have joined their Russian affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (the RUJ), in expressing their concern over serious threats by religious and  public opinion leaders in Chechnya against journalists and media staff at Novaya Gazeta, the leading independent newspaper in Russia. The…

IV Far Eastern Media Summit 2017

The IV Far Eastern Media Summit – 2017 will be held on June 8-9 on the premises of the Far Eastern Federal University campus, Russky Island, Vladivostok city, Russian Federation. Organizers of the Summit are: The Primorsky Territory Administration; The Primorsky Territory Legislative Assembly; Far Eastern Federal University; The all-Russian public organization « Russian Union of Journalists»; Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service; Regional public organization «Primorsky Territory branch of the all-Russian public organization «Russian Union of Journalists». This year Media Summit will unite about 7,000 experts and specialists in various fields. The EFJ will be represented by its…

The Russian Union of Journalists committed to stop gender-based violence in Russia

On November 28, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), together with the United Nations agencies in Russia and the Centre for gender and media studies of Moscow State University, organised a round table focused on “Russian journalists in UN: Combating gender-based violence”. This event took place in the Moscow Journalist Club and gathered experts, journalists and human rights activists. It followed the International Federation of Journalists action to mark UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls on 25 November. Nadezda Azhgikhina, vice-president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and member of the IFJ Gender council, presented a…

Justice for Anna Politkovskaya

On 7 October 2006 Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter for the Novaya Gazeta, newspaper and a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead at her apartment building in central Moscow. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliate the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in commemorating the death of the veteran journalist and calling on the Russian government to renew its efforts to identify those who ordered the journalists’ murder.  The journalist and human rights activist’s body was found by a neighbour in the elevator, where she had been shot 4 times. The murder of…

RUJ-EU-EFJ Conference: Threats and opportunities for regional media in digital age

The EU Delegation to the Russian Federation, in association with the Russian Union of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists is organising the fourth and final in a series of meetings of EU and Russian journalists in 2016. The two-day event in Moscow (14-16 December) will be devoted to discussions on the future of regional press and the challenges faced by regional and local media in digital age and in changing geopolitical climate. EU journalists and their Russian colleagues will share their expertise and experience in transforming traditional newspapers into online and multi-media operations, and in developing new business…

Russia: publisher beaten up for publishing police misconduct

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) backs its affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), in calling on the Russian authorities to conduct swift investigation of the attack against weekly MK Nechernozemye publisher Denis Shaikin, in Kursk, Western Russia. On 20 September, Denis Shaikin was arrested and beaten up by policemen while he was leaving the Kursk police station with his lawyer. He was brought to the hospital and suffered from severe head injury. The RUJ believes that this attack is linked to the publication in his newspaper mid-september of an investigation accusing the deputy head of Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Kursk region of being involved in alcohol-smuggling.…

European and Russian journalists to discuss coverage of EU affairs and portrayal of Russia in media

A group of Russian journalists and editors are meeting their European Union counterparts in Brussels on the 15th and 16th September for a seminar entitled “Journalistic standards in reporting the EU and the portrayal of Russia: against stereotypes in the media”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in association with its affiliate the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), will host this two-day event in the Residence Palace. The meeting is part of an initiative spearheaded and funded by the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation. The seminar will draw on the expertise available in Brussels in the area of professional reporting of the…