A joint investigation by Hungarian, French and Portuguese media published last week revealed a direct link between entities close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and company Alpac Capital, a Portuguese investment fund, which acquired Euronews TV channel in 2022. The takeover was approved by the French government as Euronews, previously headquartered in Lyon, was a company incorporated under French law. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) back the call of their French affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (SNJ), for the opening of a parliamentary inquiry aimed at shedding light on the origins of the funds used…

A group of journalists decided to improve their working conditions by developing their own online newspaper Sul Informação in the Algarve region. Through funding from the Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) project, Sul Informação developed an audience engagement tool called “Do You Have News for Us?” to create a direct communication channel between the public and the newsroom.  Readers send information that will be verified and, eventually, transformed into news by the journalists. This allows the newspaper a new way to get information about what is happening in the municipalities in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo. The tool works via…

On 16 April 2024, the German journalists’ organisations DJV and dju in ver.di are calling on permanent and freelance journalists from all public broadcasters and Deutsche Welle to hold a joint day of action. Under the motto “Fairness sparks”, the employees are sending out a clear signal in favour of fair and appropriate collective agreements in the public broadcasting sector. The DJV and ver.di unions are jointly conducting collective bargaining. At lunchtime, decentralised actions will be organised in German broadcasting companies. Journalists are united by a common call: “We must make those responsible for collective bargaining at the public broadcasters…

Public service broadcaster RAI has decided to grant ministers and undersecretaries unrestricted airtime on its programs when referring to institutional matters. On 11 April, journalists and news hosts on the main channels of RAI read live during prime news editions the Rai Union of Journalists (USIGRai) statement announcing RAI’s decision and condemning it, comparing RAI to the government’s “megaphone”. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) together with their affiliate the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI) condemn this further attempt to politicise public information services for propaganda purposes and demand that RAI respects fundamental journalistic principles. “The government majority…

On 4 and 5 April, Russian drone strikes hit respectively the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia injuring at least four journalists, with some ending at the hospital in serious and worrying health conditions. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) together with their affiliates the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU) call for Russian authorities to put an end to these attacks, that endanger the safety not only of civilians but also of journalists engaged in the performance of their duties. On 4 April, Russian drone strikes hit…

The Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ) has launched the campaign ‘Journalists have a voice’ to raise awareness of the difficulties journalists face in the country. Low salaries, precarious working conditions and a collective agreement for press workers that has not been renewed over a decade could have a devastating impact on the quality of information, media pluralism and democracy, warns the UCJ. The International and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) fully back the demands of their affiliate UCJ, and urge employers to start negotiations to improve journalists’ working conditions and end precarity in the media sector. Journalism is in…