While many European governments use the Covid19 crisis to massively restrict media freedom, the report of a fact-finding mission to Scandinavia shows policies and approaches that can inspire change for the better. Representatives of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) visited Denmark and Sweden from 15 to 18 December 2019. They followed the questions: Why does Scandinavia regularly lead the rankings for media freedom? What can governments and media actors in other countries learn and adopt from this region? In summarising the report, ECPMF’s…

Time to put words into action! Europe’s cultural and creative sectors were among the first and hardest hit by the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. They will also be among the last. Across Europe, almost all cultural activities have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely, while venues and retailers have closed with disastrous consequences for all creators’ and cultural and creative professionals’ livelihoods, as well as the ecosystem as a whole. Millions of jobs are on the line. In its Resolution on how to combat the COVID-19 crisis and its consequences1 , the European Parliament rightly underlines that the cultural and creative sectors “have…

€1 million euros for projects in Europe in 2020 The IJ4EU (Investigative Journalism for Europe) fund today opened two new calls for cross-border investigative journalism projects in the EU and EU candidate countries. IJ4EU’s Investigation Support scheme will provide grants of between €5,000 and €50,000 to new cross-border investigative projects, including those that have recently begun as well as new phases of existing projects. The deadline for applications is June 14. A second call under this scheme is expected to open in August. See full information and FAQs. Separately, IJ4EU’s Publication Support scheme will provide grants of up to €6,250…

Originally published on journo.com Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has depicted a grim picture with a special report that was published on World Press Freedom Day. The report was authored by TGS legal and labor experts Ülkü Şahin, İlyas Coşkun and Beste Dönmez Gedik to record the press freedom violations in Turkey from April 2019 to April 2020. According to the report, which is 150-page-long with its annexes, 85 journalists are currently in Turkey’s prisons. Throughout the past year, Turkish courts ruled for a total prison sentence of 178 years in 166 legal cases against journalists. Meanwhile, 37 journalists were physically…

On this World Press Freedom Day, the undersigned organisations honour those who work tirelessly to help keep the public informed and call for robust support for independent journalism. Millions of people around the world are looking for reliable, fact-based, and gender-sensitive journalism that can help them navigate the biggest shared challenge of our lifetime. The need for trustworthy information has never been greater and more urgent than during this pandemic. Access to timely, high-quality information is imperative during a global health crisis; it is one of the key pillars required to slow the spread of this virus, mitigate its impacts,…

A ZDF camera crew were attacked after filming a demonstration against the corona rules for satirical news programme the heute-show (Today Show) on Friday 1 May. The team were on the way back to their vehicles when the incident took place. The EFJ joined its German affiliates the German Association of Journalists (DJV) and the German Union of Journalists (dju in ver.di) in condemning the attack. Five of the seven members required hospital treatment and have since been discharged to recover from home. The police initially arrested six suspects, who were released from custody. Some 15 persons are suspected of…