The European Parliament issued at the request of its LIBE Committee a new report on the safety of journalists and the fighting of corruption in the European Union. Led by Professor Tarlach McGonagle, the study concludes that journalists’ working conditions are deteriorating and calls for the creation of a permanent European fund for journalists in the framework of the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2921-2027). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly supports this proposal. The dramatic dismantling of media pluralism in Hungary, in some cases with the help of EU funds, shows that it is high time for…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was invited today to introduce the working session on freedom of the media at the OSCE 2nd Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM). The EFJ called on the OSCE Participating States to fully implement the 2018 Ministerial Council Decision for the safety of journalists. “Hundreds of media outlets are under threat, starting with local media, which are simply in danger of disappearing for lack of financial support. Tens of thousands of journalists have been put on temporary unemployment. And tens of thousands of independent journalists have been deprived of any income for the past three…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Council of Europe Rapporteur on media freedom George Foulkes‘ call for better protection for journalists in Europe. Over the past two years, George Foulkes, who is a British Labour Co-operative politician and former Scotland minister, has been investigating this issue as General Rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace). His report points out that the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism shows that the situation is getting worse in Europe. From 2015 to date, 26 journalists have been…

The political conflict between Catalonia and Spain has reached its most critical point with a week of protests against the sentence that condemned Catalan leaders between 9 and 13 years of prison. Some of the demonstrations have turned into a scenario of violence between protesters and police officers. The journalists, in between, are suffering the consequences of this confrontation: 59 journalists had been injured as for today (65 according to Mèdia.cat, but some of them are still unidentified), some of the reporters have been held in custody and informing about the situation is becoming more and more difficult. The European…

The Renew Europe event “Risking everything to uphold EU values and democracy: protecting journalists in the EU” will take place in the European Parliament on October 17th, 2019 from 10h to 13h30. The event is dedicated to the protection and support of independent media and investigative journalists. This initiative aims to be the start of a close collaboration between the legislators and independent journalists taking the shape of two initial workshops, where journalists and civil society partners can meet and discuss their necessities in areas such as future EU legislation, future financing mechanisms or other connected topics. The workshops “Creating…

Hearing of PACE (Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly) Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media. Threats to media freedom and journalists’ security in Europe (open to the public) Rapporteur: Lord George Foulkes, United Kingdom, SOC Consideration of an expert report and hearing with the participation of: Mr Marc Gruber, Expert on media and communication, Strasbourg Mr Giacomo Mazzone, Head of Institutional and Member Relations, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Geneva Mr Ricardo Gutiérrez, Secretary General, European Federation of journalists, Brussels Mr Thomas Friang, Advocacy Officer, Reporters Without Borders, Paris

The European Parliament passed on Thursday, with 398 votes to 85 and 69 abstentions, a resolution summarising the conclusions of the working group set up within the Civil Liberties Committee to monitor the situation of rule of law in the EU, particularly in Malta and Slovakia, following the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this EP resolution deploring serious shortcomings in the rule of law in Malta and Slovakia, also warning of rising threats for journalists throughout the EU. The text underlines that the assassinations…

Scott Griffen, Deputy Director at the International Press Institute (IPI), and Ricardo Gutiérrez, GS of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will participate in the exchange of views with the Ministers’ Deputies on behalf of the partners of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism.

Press freedom in Europe is more fragile now than at any time since the end of the Cold War. That is the alarming conclusion of a report launched today by the 12 partner organizations of the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of Journalism and safety of journalists. The report, “Democracy at Risk”, analyses media freedom violations raised to the Platform in 2018. It provides a stark picture of the worsening environment for the media across Europe, in which journalists increasingly face obstruction, hostility and violence as they investigate and report on behalf of the public. The 12 Platform partners…