A number of journalists reporting about alleged funding from Hungary of media close to the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) has been facing attacks and threats to their life. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS) in condemning in the strongest terms the “intensive attacks” and calling on the authorities to guarantee a safe environment for journalists. The association has informed about repetitive attempts of discrediting journalists, smear campaigns, death threats, offensive messages on social media, on and offline harassment. The journalists’ association was itself targeted and claimed this wave of attacks is aimed…

March 1st marks a new chapter in the support for journalists under threat – it is the start of the Europe-wide rapid response mechanism (RRM) for violations of press and media freedom. The RRM is conducted by a consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig (ECPMF). The Mechanism is designed to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of press and media freedom in certain EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The consortium consists of the ECPMF, ARTICLE 19, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Institute for Applied…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption of the biggest collective agreement in Finland with Finnmedia, the body that represents the media industry in Finland, negotiated by the Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF). It will cover print newspapers, magazines, all web services and news agencies. The agreement is valid until 31 May 2022. The biggest achievement of the agreement is a pay rise, especially on the lower wages, along with the removal of the extra hours and the restoration of the Christmas holiday break. In addition, the extra hours will be compensated with paid training, a point…

Two columnists of the daily newspaper Yeniçağ, had their phones, Twitter and Gmail accounts hacked after writing an article about the death of Turkish soldiers in Libya. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) and their affiliate DİSK Basın İş condemn the hacking of journalists’ working tools which is a blatant attack on press freedom. On Sunday, February 23, the daily newspaper Yeniçağ announced in a statement that two of its journalists, Batuhan Çolak and Murat Ağırel, fell victim to a cyber attack after publishing an article naming two Turkish soldiers killed in Libya. On Saturday (February 22), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement that…

Lauren Moss, BBC’s South East political editor, was attacked by a member of the public moments before going live on air, on 19 February. The news reporter said on Twitter that she was preparing to broadcast from Brighton (England) when a man threw a cup of hot chocolate over her and used abusive language against the BBC. Someone may not approve of my work or who I work for but I am a journalist just doing my job. Anti-media feeling like this is very concerning for anyone in the industry. — Lauren Moss (@LaurenM0ss) February 19, 2020 Lauren Moss and…

Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), the Spanish public broadcaster, has appointed the journalist, FSC-CCOO affiliate and member of the EFJ Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG), Carolina Pecharromán as the new Equality Editor of TVE, replacing the recently deceased Alicia Gómez Montano. She will start her new position on the 1st of March. Pecharromán‘s mission will be to guarantee equality between men and women in both content and presence on public television and radio, to launch initiatives that will help eliminate malpractices that may occur on RTVE, and to close the existing gender gap in the Spanish public service media. “It is our responsibility…