The recently published study on  “A comparative analysis of media freedom and pluralism in the EU Member States“conducted research on Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy,Poland and Romania, all countries which have shown political pluralism at high risk, accompanied by heavy state interference in the media, or close economic ties between politics and media. The 175 pages long study starts with the premise that any attempt to address media freedom and pluralism on a European level should be “intrinsically connected to the issues of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights and should become part of a regular process of democratic…

(7 October 2016) European trade union federations (ETUFs) informal network on digitialization met  to exchange view on following topics: The need  to regulate on right to disconnect through collective bargaining and other legal instruments Surveillance of data of employees at the workplace, analysis patterns and rating platforms of employers The link between digitalisation and gender equality Online-Platforms and the “sharing economy” with atypical forms of workers as crowdworking, freelancers and the need for framework for employee protection and equal treatment, collective bargaining and fighting undeclared work Digital integration of value chains The Copyright Reform and Intellectual Property Rights and the…

Circolo della Stampa di Milano (Milan press club) organised on 11 October a conference with Anna Del Freo, deputy general secretary of the Italian affiliate the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI) and member of the EFJ Steering Committee. Torture, arbitrary arrests happen too often to journalists including so-called “citizen journalists” in Turkey, Egypt and Syria. Impunity remains the rule and not the exception. “A tragic situation which does not find enough space in the press” said Anna Del Freo. “The EFJ will continue its fight to protect journalists and help those who are working to find the truth,” she added.

Publication of Hungary’s biggest opposition newspaper, Népszabadság (People’s Freedom), has been suspended. The paper’s owner company Mediaworks unexpectedly announced on Saturday it would suspend both the print and online editions. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) are shocked by this huge blow to media pluralism in Hungary. Around 2,000 Hungarians protested in Budapest on Saturday against the closure of the country’s leading leftist newspaper. Mediaworks, owned by Austrian firm Vienna Capital Partners, said the paper was operating at a “considerable” loss and struggled with dropping circulation. But civil rights groups said the newspaper had been shut down because it…

Journalists Union of Turkey has elected the youngest president of his history during its 21th General Meeting. The equal gender balance at the new TGS board is maintained with an age average of 35 years. EFJ-IFJ and DJV (Germany) representatives shared solidarity messages at the General Meeting and met with banned media representatives. Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) organised its 21th Ordinary General Meeting, chaired by Canan Onurer (President of Basin-Sen in Cyprus), in Istanbul on 8 and 9 October 2016 with the participation of members, delegates and international guests. The General Meeting elected Gökhan Durmus (former TGS Istanbul Branch) at 33 years…

The presidents of the European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) and the representatives of the other partner organisations of the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists met with the Council of Europe´s Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, yesterday, in Strasbourg, to discuss the possible follow up to the media freedom alerts published on the Platform with regard to Turkey in the aftermath of the 15 July failed coup. The Secretary General briefed them on the Council of Europe actions so far and on-going co-operation with Turkey, as a member state of the organisation. Since the coup attempt, the…