22 editors-in-chief of leading Slovenian media said on 28 October in an open letter intended “to the public” that they will stand against political interference as they face increasing pressure from the government. With this letter, the journalists denounced their difficulty to do their job in these challenging times caused by the pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to the public. They describe a toxic working environment where weekly pressure from the authorities “place an additional burden and make quality journalistic work more difficult”. “Neither this crisis nor anything else may be used as a pretence for attempts to impose harmful…

It appears to be a global trend that the Covid-19 outbreak has aggravated previously existing problems in the journalism industry and added another layer that concerns health measures for journalists. Kosovo is no exception as shown by a report called “The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economic situation of journalists, cameramen and photojournalists” published on 27 October by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK). This research focuses on the consequences of Covid-19 on the economic situation for media workers, the difficulties in reporting and the lack of necessary protection equipment. The study was carried out during the period…

On 28 October, together with fellow partner organisations of the Council of Europe Platform, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) signed a statement of urgent concern regarding the risks to physical safety and undue restrictions faced by journalists covering the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. The statement reads as follows: We undersigned partner organisations of the Council of Europe Platform for the promotion of journalism and the safety of journalists express our urgent and deep concern about the ongoing risks of injury and harm to media workers reporting on the armed conflict inside Nagorno Karabakh. We are also concerned that arbitrary…

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, freelance journalists across Europe have been greatly impacted with reduced paid work and often isolation. For the “Online Freelance Seminar: Equal Treatment for All”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) gathered over 30 journalists’ representatives, freelance journalists and their organisers, EU policy-makers and experts to discuss such impacts on their working conditions and explore ways to support them. The seminar kicked off with a panel led by Oddrun Midtbø (Norwegian Union of Journalists, NJ) with Renske Heddema, (Dutch Journalists’ Association, NVJ), Charlotte Michils (Flemish Association of Journalists, VVJ) and Pablo Aiquel (French National…

The Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (TUCJ) just launched the #togetherwithouthate (#zajednobezmrznje) campaign. The objective is to warn against the destructive influence of hate speech online and offline journalists are facing because of their work, on the rise for many years. The campaign was launched on Friday 23 October with a call on media outlets to disable the possibility to comment on their websites and social media, for two hours, from 11am to 1pm. Major Croatian media outlets took part in the action, including Jutarnji list, Slobodna Dalmacija, 24sata, Večernji list, Novi list, Glas…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and 21 other organisations from across the globe to submit a statement to the US government in response to proposed changes to the I visa program that will impact on foreign journalists. “To be clear, by these restrictions on the validity of visas, the Trump administration wants to make it much harder and more expensive for foreign journalists to work in the United States,” said EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez. “This is why, together with the IFJ and 22 global organisations,…