Bosnian / Türkçe / Shqiptar / Montenegro The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with its affiliate the Association of Professional Journalists in Albania (APJA) have successfully organised on 19/12/2016 in Tirana (Albania) the training of trainers’ workshop for Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG+) in the framework of its Unesco supported project called Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey (#TrustinMediaSEE). Tim Dawson (NUJ President, UK) acted as expert during this event and gave the course based on his long serving experience as trade unionist in the United Kingdom to trainers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro…

by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President 827 journalists were killed during the last decade and paid the ultimate price for exercising their job. An appalling and worrying fact documented by the biannual report from the Director General at UNESCO. The safety of journalists and fighting impunity was on top of the agenda during the UNESCO IPDC Council meeting, 17th-18th November 2016 in Paris. IPDC is an UNESCO program for safety of journalists, press freedom and media development. As the representative of Denmark, I delivered the following speech: Eight hundred and twenty seven, 827 journalists, have been killed since 2006. This is…

Enforcing labour rights and improving working conditions for journalists remain challenging in South East Europe and Turkey, as concluded in the Labour Rights Expert Group meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 26 October in Zagreb. The meeting is partly funded by the UNESCO as part of the project “Building trust in the media in South East Europe and Turkey” that enables labour rights experts from the region to exchange views with their colleagues. Erisa Zykaj, journalist and representative from the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania (APJA) said that the enforcement of labour rights is yet to…

A mission to Serbia by the Ethical Journalism Network and the European Federation of Journalists this month has called for urgent action to strengthen journalism and independent media across the country. Aidan White, EJN Director, and EFJ Project Officer Mehmet Koksal talked with media leaders and journalism support groups during their visit on September 16-17. They found that problems of political bias, lack of transparency in ownership, manipulated state funding for favoured media, and a desperately weak economic situation all contribute to a deeply flawed media system. “The media crisis cannot be allowed to get worse,” said White. “It poisons…

Journalists and media workers from South East Europe and Turkey are able to share best practices, illuminate present challenges in labour rights and benefit from legal expertise after joining European Labour Rights Experts Group. “If journalists’ working conditions are poor, how can media be the driver for sustainable and peaceful development in the region? By promoting these exchanges, UNESCO and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) aim for a collective upgrade of media professionals’ rights, for the benefit of publics and democracy,” commented Mehmet Koksal, project officer from EFJ. Under the EU-funded project “Building Trust in media in South East…

This report arises from a visit to Prishtina and covers a series of interviews and meetings with Kosovo media leaders and regulatory bodies to develop draft guidelines for ethical audits and good governance at media enterprise level. In line with the working programme for 2016 the EJN has begun to prepare materials to perform internal audits (these are attached). The initial material has been circulated to local media selected for co-operation: Koha Ditore, Zëri, Insider Online Agency, Kosovo 2.0 and Radio Television Kosova. The meetings also examined the current media situation and the major challenges for ethical practice and good…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join a group media partners and NGOs to launch the World Press Freedom Day events in Brussels on 3 May at the Centre for Fine Art. The day will start with a keynote from Commissioner Günther Oettinger from the European Commission emphasizing that Europe is a strong supporter for freedom of speech. Among a series of activities and debates, the EFJ will gather a panel of women journalists who will share their views on the recent evolution in Turkey in terms of freedom of the press and their role as journalists. A second debate will focus on a…

Despite the travel difficulties to Brussels following the attacks of 22 March 2016, members of the Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) continued their meeting in Brussels to discuss the evolution of labour conditions for journalists and media workers in Europe. Thanks to a new EFJ project entitled Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey financially supported by UNESCO and the EU, the LAREG meeting provided a unique opportunity to exchange views between EU and non-EU participants from South Eastern Europe of the EFJ members and discuss recent developments in the media sector…

UNESCO and the European Commission have renewed their partnership to strengthen freedom of expression and media freedom in South East Europe and Turkey. The new project, Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey, will last 36 months starting in early 2016. The European Commission is contributing 1,500,000 Euros to support media self-regulation mechanisms, promote media internal governance and foster media and information literacy (MIL) in the region. “This project is a direct follow-up of the previous successful project, Media Accountability in South East Europe and Turkey, and aims at further supporting professional and ethical journalism and boosting…

Save the date: the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) will participate in the World Press Freedom Day, in Riga and Brussels, on 3rd May 2015. Riga event UNESCO leads the worldwide celebration co-hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Latvia, in Riga, from 2-4 May 2015. As official partners of the event, the IFJ and the EFJ will organise on 3 May (14:00-15:30) a panel discussion at the National Library, on “Regulation, Sustainable Self-regulation and Professional Standards” (speakers: Mr Jim Boumelha, President of the IFJ, Mr Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, President of the EFJ, Mr…