The safety of journalists remains the main threat to media freedom in the OSCE region, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today during her visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. During her visit, Mijatović also participated in the European Federation of Journalists’ General Meeting held in Sarajevo and delivered the keynote speech at the event. “Any rational discussion about the state of media freedom must begin with an analysis of the state of the safety of journalists,” Mijatović told some 100 delegates from journalist federations from across Europe. “It is unacceptable that journalists every day are…

The EFJ newsletter, EFJ Focus, is available in English and in French.   EDITORIAL Building stronger unions and quality journalism No one will doubt the importance of high quality journalism in a democratic society especially with recent revelations from the investigative reporting of the ‘‘Panama Papers’’ and ‘‘LuxLeaks’’. The revelations reaffirm that independent and quality journalism is a prerequisite and a fundamental pillar for democracy. This is why we need investment in journalism in order to allow journalists to do their job in an environment media freedom, decent working conditions and authors’ rights are respected. This will be the main topic…

The European Federation of Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists condemned the arrest of Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal who was on his way to Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) for the General Meeting of the EFJ. Omar Nazzal, member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) in the West Bank, was arrested by Israeli forces on the al-Karameh crossing between Palestine and Jordan on Saturday, 23 April. He was taken to the Etzion interrogation center. The president of PJS, Nasser Abu Baker, who is also participating in the EFJ meeting, also condemned Nazzal’s arrest. A delegation of Palestinian journalists (Nasser Abu…

This report arises from a visit to Prishtina and covers a series of interviews and meetings with Kosovo media leaders and regulatory bodies to develop draft guidelines for ethical audits and good governance at media enterprise level. In line with the working programme for 2016 the EJN has begun to prepare materials to perform internal audits (these are attached). The initial material has been circulated to local media selected for co-operation: Koha Ditore, Zëri, Insider Online Agency, Kosovo 2.0 and Radio Television Kosova. The meetings also examined the current media situation and the major challenges for ethical practice and good…

Legislators must take concrete steps against unfair contractual clauses in their laws. This is the message put across by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to mark World Copyright and Book Day tomorrow 23 April. The organisations warn against the continuing trend developed by media companies to use rights- grabbing contracts. Journalists who sign those contracts not only lose the right to use their works autonomously, but also the (moral) right to protect the integrity of their works. These practices allow for the same work to be used many times for one single payment…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom will organise a debate on self-censorship in European media on 2 May in Brussels. If an internet search has the potential to land a journalist on the blacklist of security services or if a reporter cannot guarantee for the anonymity of sources, free reporting is in danger. The same goes for journalists who have to pick their words carefully in order to secure their media company’s advertisement revenue. In several Central European states and in Europe’s neighborhood, particularly in Turkey, the government is tightening its grip on media companies.…