Turkish journalists Cevheri Güven and Murat Çapan, working for the weekly magazine Nokta, have been charged and jailed by a court in Istanbul last Tuesday 3 November. Güven is the editor-in-chief of the publication and Çapan, the managing editor in charge. Their pretrial incarceration is officially justified by particularly severe charges: “incitement to armed uprising against the government”. The cover title of the latest issue of Nokta was: “Monday, 2nd November: the beginning of a civil war in Turkey”. The last remaining copies of the newspaper have been seized by the police and the Nokta website has been blocked. Murat Çapan…

The European Federation of Journalists, represented by its President Mogens Blicher Bjerregård and Director Renate Schroeder will participate in an international conference on freedom of expression in the Western Balkans and Turkey held today at the European Commission. The Speak Up! 3 conference will bring together journalists, media analysts, decision-makers from the enlargement countries, experts from international, regional and national organizations to discuss achievements and challenges to media freedom. The EFJ affiliates from Western Balkans and Turkey will also participate in the conference. The conference will be broadcast live. To follow the debate, you can also follow the Twitter hashtag #SpeakUp3. Here is the…

The Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human rights Nils Muižnieks visited the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) on 3 November in Brussels to exchange on the threat of surveillance laws to press freedom in Europe. Commissioner Muižnieks , accompanied by Deputy Director Giancarlo Cardinale and Stefano Montanari , met with the EFJ Secretary General Ricardo Gutiérrez , IFJ press officer Pamela Morinière together with human rights and safety head Ernest Sagaga. The Commissioner said he has been assessing the impact of surveillance laws on journalism in Europe and wanted to consult the two journalists’ organisations…

What kind of conditions, such as contracts or salaries are online journalists working under? Are they satisfied with their jobs? What needs to be improved and what role can the union play to enhance the working conditions of journalists in digital media? The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has launched a survey aiming to get a better overview of their working conditions and ways to protect their interests through unions/associations.The survey reveals a dangerous trend where many online journalists face precarious working conditions. Among the 231 respondents, 62% said they worked overtime and over 50% of them do not have a full-time employment…

Within the framework of  the #seemediapartnership, the Center for Independent Journalism, Romania in cooperation with the Albanian Media Institute organised a regional conference on journalists’ employment conditions in South Eastern Europe in Tirana last week. Together with EFJ affiliates from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and future members from Albania and Kosovo, participants discussed an action plan on how to improve the situation of journalists in the Balkan including capacity building of journalists’ organisations, Social dialogue, improved legal and labour protection for all journalists independent of their employment relation. Independent judiciary, rules on media concentration but also media education/media literacy and funding…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Italy (FNSI) and a coalition of civil society organisations in Italy protesting against the new gag law that will hamper the rights of citizens to freedom of information. A press conference will be organised at the FNSI office tomorrow at 11 am, 3 November to launch the online petition ”No Bavaglio 3” (”No to Gag Law” in English). #nobavaglio The new law containing provisions that will impose sanctions and penalities on journalists and media organisations who published wiretapping materials for investigative journalism. Raffaele Lorusso, the General…