Spanish police officers raided the headquarters of Spanish news agency Europa Press and newspaper Diario de Mallorca, on 11 December, to confiscate documents and personal devices of several journalists. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) joined their Spanish affiliates, FeSP, FAPE and CCOO, in condemning the police operation, which is a serious violation of the right of journalists to protect their sources. This right is a fundamental pillar of press freedom and is protected by the 20th article of the Spanish Constitution. Its violation is an attack on the free exercise of journalism. According to Europa…

On December 5, the international press freedom organisation ARTICLE 19 issued the ‘Expression agenda report 2017-2018‘; an analysis on the global status of freedom of expression. The findings are anything but positive. There is a decline in the situation of free press in 24 countries around the world since 2014, and this affects Europe as well. Even though the worst performing countries of the index are non-European countries, the hostility towards the media has become normalised particularly in Eastern Europe, where Poland, Croatia, Romania and Turkey saw a decline in the different areas of the index between 2014 and 2017. The report…

On the December 10, the Human Rights Day, Italian journalists have once again organised a protest against the attacks of some members of the government. They gathered to defend the dignity of Journalists’ work and the values contained in Article 21 of the Italian Constitution (guaranteeing free speech). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) keeps on supporting its Italian affiliate, Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana (Fnsi), in the fight against the continuous attempts to limit journalists’ work in the country. On the same day, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio (5 Star Movement) convened FNSI and the National Order of Journalists (Cnog)…

European and international authors and performers’ organisations from all sectors, including EFJ and IFJ, urge Member States to support the much-needed Article -14 providing for fair and proportionate remuneration for authors and performers in the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Proposed by the European Parliament and backed by a large majority of its members on 12 September, the opening provision in Chapter 3 sets a fundamental guiding principle for the remuneration of authors and performers, which should be fair and proportionate to the potential and actual value of the transferred or licensed rights. Capital and business in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Global Editors Network have today published their first White Paper (PDF) following the Brussels Unconference on Media Literacy organised on 6th of November 2018. The paper highlights the objectives of the intervention, summarize the content of the masterclass, details the dynamic of the process that let the participants decide on the themes and topics of the unconference, calls to action for the upcoming participants of next rounds and make main recommendations for the European Media Literacy Toolkit to be produced at the end of this exercice, shows the impact of the Brussels Unconference…

On December 6, 2018, nine partner organizations and observers of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists conducted a press freedom solidarity mission to Slovakia to press for full justice in the case of assassinated journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, who were murdered on February 21, 2018. The delegation – from the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited, Index on Censorship, International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Press Institute (IPI), PEN International, Rory Peck Trust, along…