The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ), in partnership with their Turkish affiliates, organised last week two training workshops in Istanbul and Bursa, Turkey. The events are part of an EU-funded project promoting journalists’ rights and human rights journalism, which the organisations currently implement in Turkey. Organized on 4 December in partnership with the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS) and Evrensel newspaper, the first workshop focused on countering fake news and fact-checking techniques. Training was delivered in the newsroom to 12 journalists by trainer Gülin Çavuş and Orhan Şener, director of the TGS Akademi. It examined various online fact-checking techniques including KnightLab,…

UPDATE (19 December 2019): On 18 December, the Albanian parliament approved two controversial media laws, known as the “anti-defamation package”. 82 MPs voted in favour of the law, 13 against and 5 MPs abstained. We condemn these media law changes, which if they come into force, will result in the replacement of self regulation of online media with state regulation. Cosmetic changes made at the very last minute do not address all the concerns raised by the European Union, the Council of Europe (CoE) and CoE’s Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic. We urge the president not to decree these changes as…

We, the undersigned organisations, reiterate our call on the Albanian parliament not to approve the draft media laws known as the “defamation package.” Should the draft laws enter into force, they would introduce mandatory registration requirements for online media and create an administrative body with the power to fine, shut down online media and block foreign online media – all without a court order. They would also introduce state regulation of online media, which is contrary to international best practice guidelines on self-regulation. We note that the proposals are not in line with best practices on self-regulation and would have an adverse…

Turkish journalist İdris Özyol who had been beaten up in May was found unconscious in the street in Antalya on 2nd December and rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. The EFJ and IFJ join the Progressive Journalists’ Association (CGD) and Disk Basın-İş in calling for a full investigation into the case and demanding the government act to ensure journalists’ safety. İdris Özyol, who is known for his criticism of government’s policies, writes for local daily Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl in the southern province of Antalya. On 15 May 2019, he was attacked by three assailants in front of his…

The European Federation of Journalists together with its partners is seeking project proposals on initiatives to support activities of existing media self-regulation bodies. The objective of this call for financial support is to strengthen the capacities of self-regulatory bodies through support for their initiatives (1) on advocating, promoting and improving media freedom by preventing or avoiding government regulation through self-regulation ; (2) on promoting and improving ethical journalism ; (3) on offering and organising a body or complaint mechanism where citizens and organizations can make a complaint if they believe there is a violation of journalistic ethics. This call for proposals…

At the conference it is organising in Paris on 6 December, the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) joined forces with other organisations defending press freedom to call on European institutions and governments to adopt effective measures to protect the Fourth estate for the sake of democracy. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the call, emphasising the need to avoid any procedure for certification or labelling of the media, on the pretext of combating misinformation, and the importance of supporting the International Convention on the Safety and Independence of Journalists and Other Media Professionals proposed by the International Federation of…