The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Journalists’ Association (BHJA), in demanding the reactivation throughout the country of the federal public channel FTV, whose TV and radio broadcasts were interrupted at 6am on 8 May following a decision by the management of the public broadcaster BHRT in a financial dispute between the two entities. The EFJ and BHJA denounce the mess that has led to the interruption of FTV’s broadcasting, in a context of irresponsible political interference contrary to the public interest. We call on the journalists of the two public broadcasters…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined four international media freedom organisations and its six affiliates in the SafeJournalist network in demanding that the authorities in Northern Macedonia put an end to the harassment of journalist Furkan Saliu. Here is the letter we sent on 8 May to the Minister of the Interior, Pance Toskovski, and the President of the VMRO-DPMNE right-wing party, Hristijan Mickoski. Dear Minister for Internal Affairs Mr. Pance Toskovski, Dear President of VMRO DPMNE Mr. Hristijan Mickoski, The undersigned media freedom and freedom of expression organisations are writing to express our grave concern at the harassment…

The growing pressure on press freedom in Italy has prompted the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium to organise an urgent mission to Rome on May 16 and 17. The unprecedented political interference in the public service media, the increasing cases of vexatious lawsuits against journalists, and the possible sale of the AGI news agency will be the focus of the two-day visit. Meetings will be held with institutional stakeholders, journalists, trade unions and civil society. In light of the recent legislative developments on media freedom at the EU level, in particular the adoption of the anti-SLAPP Directive and the…

Since 1 May 2024, French journalist Nassira El Moaddem has been the target of an unprecedented campaign of racist harassment. Her media, Arrêt sur images (ASI), specialised in media issues, has also received several death threats referring to the Charlie Hebdo attack. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its French affiliates the SNJ, SNJ-CGT and CFDT-Journalistes in expressing full solidarity with Nassira El Moaddem and ASI, and in calling for appropriate sanctions to be taken against the perpetrators of the threats. The harassment campaign started with a tweet posted by Nassira El Moaddem on 30 April 2024, in reaction…

Based on a recent study by the Centre of Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) that maps news deserts in Europe, the Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) project financially supports independent local media outlets operating in areas at risk of becoming news deserts. We talked to Ante Fumić, owner of Lika Club, about the opportunities from the development of the Lika App, which aims to provide relevant news, information, and content that directly serves the interests and concerns of the local community. By focusing on their specific needs, the app will enhance accessibility to regional media and foster a stronger…

Danish newspapers Politiken with TjekDek revealed last month that thousands of false advertisement campaigns published on the Meta platforms were targeting in particular DR and TV2 journalists. Most of the fake articles were not removed by Meta, despite being reported as fraudulent. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urges Meta to take responsibility for protecting the credibility and professionalism of journalists and remove all the fakes from its platforms.  Deepfake is a growing phenomenon worldwide that involves the unauthorised use of well-known journalists’ images or voices to spread false stories and lure people into sending money.  Among the journalists targeted,…