Twenty-five journalists from 12 countries gathered in Zagreb (Croatia) on 26 and 27 May to attend a workshop on the theme “Reporting Refugees, Migrants, Ethnicity” co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA). Journalists gathered at the workshop on reporting refugees in Zagreb. #mediaagainsthate pic.twitter.com/KhrkjXHR6I — Gašper Andrinek (@Caspersek) May 26, 2017 Croatia had little contact with migrants from the Middle East until 2015. But the country is now welcoming some migrants and the media, as well as the population, are experiencing some difficulties in dealing with it. The participants, all working on migration issues in their own countries, were given…

Basin-Sen (Turkish Cypriots’s Press Workers’ Trade Union, an EFJ-IFJ affiliate) announced the signature of a new collective agreement with Northern Cyprus’ biggest online daily newspaper Kibris Postasi. “This is a very important step taken by Kibris Postasi newspaper as this gives a momentum and is seen as an example to repeat for the entire press workers. We thank the managers of the newspaper for this output and we want to thank all the journalists and media workers for standing for the social rights. As Basin-Sen, we will be working to achieve similar results through collective bargaining in other media outlets”, said Canan Onurer,…

The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (the RUJ), in condemning the murder of Dmitry Popkov, co-founder and editor-in-chief of local newspaper Ton-M based in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia. Dmitri Popkov was shot dead in the town of Minusinsk on 24 May, 2017, reports Index’s Mapping Media Freedom. The regional investigative committee reported that Popkov was shot five times by an unidentified perpetrator. His body was found in the sauna in his backyard. Popkov is well known in his region since he became a regional parliament deputy for the Communist Party.…

What kind of journalism will be done in the future, what sorts of platforms will be used and where will the money come from? What will be the role of freelancers and entrepreneurs in this changing situation? Those are some of the questions that will be discussed at the Nordic Freelance Seminar on 15–16 September in Helsinki at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Suomenlinna island. It is hosted by the Finnish Freelance Journalists Association (Suomen freelance-journalistit ry) and aimed at Nordic freelancers only. Participants will also talk about new skills freelancers and entrepreneurs should learn, the relationship between the…

Media freedom in Europe has reached a ”critical turning point” due to dramatic challenges faced by journalists, highlighted Patrick Penninckx, the Head of the Council of Europe Information Society Department in his key note speech at the EFJ Annual Meeting  on 18–19 May in Bucharest, Romania. Around 70 delegates and guests from 30 European countries attended the meeting entitled ‘Journalist under pressure’ and debated about key challenges facing journalists and their unions. The meeting, hosted by the EFJ affiliate in Romania, FAIR MediaSind, pointed out the lack of social dialogue in the media in Romania to guarantee decent working conditions for journalists…

In 2016, the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) examined media freedom and pluralism indicators in 28 European countries as well as in Montenegro and Turkey, two applicant countries. The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) released on Friday (19/05/2017) the report which shows alarming trends, in particular when it comes to journalistic profession including working conditions, safety, protection of sources, access and the role of unions and associations in protecting journalists. The report especially emphasized that no country is free from risks when it comes to media pluralism. The risks were examined under different aspects and potential threats, related to…