The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organised on 18-19 September 2023, together with the Austrian journalist’s union GPA, a meeting with its Expert Group members. Around 40 journalists and trade unionists from 25 European countries discussed in Vienna the challenges and opportunities posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in journalism, and its implications for ethics, jobs and authors’ rights. “AI in journalism doesn’t mean AI does journalism.” This is the approach taken by the Austrian news agency APA, which some of the EFJ Expert Group members visited. APA has been using automated processes since 2019 for elections, then for coverage of…

In the run-up to the European Parliament’s vote on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), scheduled on 3 October 2023, 500 journalists have signed the letter below calling on MEPs to introduce an absolute ban on the deployment of spyware against journalists. Dear honorable Members of the European Parliament, Ahead of the upcoming vote of the draft report on the proposed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), journalists in Europe are urging you to introduce an absolute ban on the surveillance of journalists through spyware in this text.  Some of us, and many of our colleagues across Europe and the world, have…

Ariane Lavrilleux, the French journalist who in November 2021 revealed the Egyptian government’s complicity in “arbitrary executions”, was taken into police custody at 6 am on Tuesday 19 September. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns this brutal violation of media freedom and the fundamental democratic principle of protecting sources. At six o’clock on Tuesday morning, police officers from the French Directorate-General for Internal Security (DGSI), accompanied by a judge, searched the home of journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, who works for the investigative media Disclose. She was then taken into custody “as part of an investigation into the compromise of national…

As the European Parliament debates the reform of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins ARTICLE 19 and 17 other civil society organisations call on MEPs to support amendments mandating the right of public access to Court’s documents and documents related to its judicial proceedings. The current EU standards on access to information do not provide full transparency of the CJEU decision making, with the Decision concerning public access to documents held by the CJEU explicitly excluding access to court documents. The CJEU is increasingly required to rule on matters of a constitutional…

The first mentorship workshop was held for the successful candidates of the Local Media for Democracy project this week. Within the project, 17 media outlets across Europe received funding and the opportunity to technically develop their media and projects to help mitigate news deserts in their regions.  The first online workshop, organised by the International Media Support (IMS), took place on 7 September. The IMS advisors Iryna Vidavana and Clare Cook led the workshop for the 12 successful applicants from around the EU. This first webinar was centred around the  common element for all projects to focus on – defining…

One month has passed since 24 journalists from the Russian news agency Sputnik in Istanbul and Ankara were dismissed. As members of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), they were ready to go on strike to demand better working conditions, after negotiations on a new collective agreement failed. The strike, which has been going on for 30 days, continues. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) reiterate their solidarity with the Turkish journalists and urge Sputnik to respect labour law and provide their employees with decent working conditions. Since the beginning of the strike on 17 August 2023, Sputnik…