By Marta Sánchez Esparza – @martasesparza What is the status of women journalists in the European Union? Under what conditions do they work? How can they achieve work-life balance? Are their rights to freedom of expression being respected? Do they work on equal terms as their male colleagues? The situation varies greatly from one country to another. The stars of the European flag do not shine the same way for women journalists in the 28 states of the Union. It is not the same to be a reporter in Germany compared to one in the former Yugoslavia, or in the…

More than 60 participants from 23 European countries attended the final conference on ‘how to manage change in the media’ from the unions’ and newsrooms’ perspectives. It took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 10-11 October 2019. Co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in Thessaloniki, the Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers (ESIEMTH), the conference concluded a two-year project (2017-2019) whose objective was to help journalists’ organisations in adapting practices to the news industry and in strengthening their union capacity, through a series of five workshops (see below). The exchange of best practices and…

Two years after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, on 16 October 2019, we, the undersigned international free expression, anti-corruption, and journalists’ organisations, once again demand an end to impunity for this heinous attack. Six of our organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), took part in an international freedom of expression mission to Malta one year ago, where, at the highest levels of government, we raised our profound concerns about this case and the broader worrying free expression environment in Malta – which has fallen 30 places over the past two years and is now…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) joined today their Maltese affiliate, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), in standing with those fighting for justice, two years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. IFJ and EFJ associate themselves with IGM’s press release issued today: “It has been two years since the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally murdered in a horrific attack on freedom of speech. Two years since a fellow journalist was killed because someone feared what she had to say and used the threat of murder as a tool to censor the Maltese press.…

[UPDATE] The number of journalists victims of some type of aggression while covering the different demonstrations this week in Barcelona rises to 59. On Tuesday 15, in Tarragona, a protester tore the shirt first a journalist and then pulled Canal Reus’ editor Ariadna Escoda’s hair. In Lleida, the journalist of the Catalan News Agency (ACN), Laura Cortés, was wounded in the leg by the impact of an object. In Barcelona, a photojournalist from eldiario.es, Sònia Calvó, freelance photojournalist Xavi Hurtado, journalist Quico Sallés from El Món, three photographers who prefer to remain anonymous, and a French reporter reported to have been…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Dutch affiliate Nederlandse Vereninging van Journalisten (NVJ) in condemning a new law under which Dutch citizens travelling to an area “controlled by terrorist groups” must request permission from the justice ministry. This new regulation threatens the freedom to inform, EFJ said, calling on the Dutch senate to make an exception for journalists or to withdraw the bill. The bill, proposed by the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus (our picture), was approved by the Lower House on 10 September. Under the proposed law, failing to request the justice ministry’s permission before travelling…