Zëri Newspaper announced the dismissal of more than 20 workers, including three journalists and one editor, last week. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) voiced concerns about the legality of the decision. According to AJK, journalists were informed about the discontinuation of their employment via an email sent by the director of the media outlet, Shpend Dobranja. Dobranja stated that in the last couple of months Zëri Newspaper had faced financial difficulties due to the low revenues from advertisement and low newspaper sales. AJK requested an investigation from the Labour Inspectorate. Gentiana Begolli Pustina, President of the Board of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on media in Kosovo to refrain from intensifying tensions in a health crisis. The quarantine of the city of North Mitrovica has resulted in inappropriate and unethical media coverage. The EFJ strongly denounces these discrepancies which show strong political interference in some media in Kosovo. Unsupported statements and provocative questions asked by a journalist from the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) while reporting live from North Mitrovica on Saturday evening’s news raised a wave of reactions in Kosovo. The remarks risk contributing in raising tensions between Serb and Albanian communities. On Friday, the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has congratulated the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK & Ireland, for contributing to the successful negotiation of the financial packages for freelances affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. On 26 March, the British Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, annouced that the government will pay self-employed people who are adversely affected by the coronavirus, a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits over the last three years. The maximum per month will be  £2,500. The scheme will be open to anyone with an income up to £50,000, but only those who…

Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, withdrew a planned decree that would have limited the publishing of information related to COVID-19 just to official sources on 2 April. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) welcome the U-turn by the government and urges the authorities to respect the free flow of information and not to arrest journalists for their reports on COVID-19. The Serbian government had on 28 March passed a decree stating that only the Prime Minister or individuals authorized by the Crisis Management Taskforce could release information about the COVID-19 pandemic. A few days after, the Serbian…

Media sector (emergency) In French-speaking Belgium, a package of 3 million euros was negotiated for media outlets in financial difficulty and another 3 million euros for public health advertising space through media outlets. In Flanders, 3.8 million euros were allocated to public broadcaster VRT, and another 3.8 million euros to regional broadcasters. The Flemish Audiovisual Fund and a number of smaller players can also count on another 1.9 million euros and 500,000 euros respectively. New support package of up to 15,000€ per media outlet/self-employed with a 60% drop in turnover in the period 1 August to 30 September 2020 compared…

Media sector (emergency relief) A package of 41 million euros. It includes a Fiscal Emergency Package, lease subsidy up to 50% of the value of the lease for small and medium enterprises for April and May (maximum 12 million euros), the coverage of the value of pension contributions for salaries for April and May, up to 8 millions euros, micro-enterprises and the self-employed are eligible for financial liquidity insurance of up to 10.000€ over 24 months through some programme of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund, a financial support from 130€ was granted to companies employing with contracts of at least…

Specific measures for freelancers Freelancers with an annual income of up to 50.000€ could get a bonus of 600€. The National Institute for Italian Journalists Social Security (INGPI) implemented a package of measures of 42 000€ which allowed extensions of parental leave, the right to defer contribution, a fund for solidarity loans at zero cost, an additional economic allowance of 500€ for all contraction of activities (in case of a contraction of at least 33% of the income in the quarter March-May 2020, compared of the period October-December 2019) and possibility to suspend further financing installment in progress with the…

Media sector (emergency relief) Media outlets were eligible to the 25 billion euros aid programme, providing they meet the following conditions: decrease in revenues in April and May 2020 by at least 60% compared to 2019 and by at least 50% in the period June-August 2020. Up to 50% of fixed operating costs will be reimbursed if revenues fall by at least 50% compared to the same month of the previous year (up to 80% if decrease by more than 70%). The maximum refund was 150,000€ per company for three months. Specific measures for freelancers At the regional level: Bavaria:…

Professional journalism, ethical journalism, independent media, transparency from those in power, media literacy and the free flow of information are the best antidote to misinformation and conspiracy theories about the spread of COVID-19 across the globe. In that particular context, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed the policy brief recently issued by ARTICLE19. “More than ever we need professional journalists in the field. Citizens are counting on them to report on the real impact of the pandemic, to disseminate protective measures and to hold decision-makers accountable. The EFJ asks media owners to refrain from any initiative to reduce wages,…

In the wake of our discussion on Friday with the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed again today its serious concerns about the sweeping powers granted to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a parliamentary vote approving indefinite rule by decree and jail terms for spreading misinformation. The EFJ fully supports the petition “No Quarantine for Democracy!” developed with MEPs (including Ramona Strugariu, Stelios Kouloglou, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Lara Wolters and Guy Verhofstadt), which is calling on all EU Member States to ensure reinforced protections for journalists, the media…

UPDATE (06.04.2020): Siarhei Satsuk was released on the 4th of April after 10 days in detention. However, his case is not closed. Siarhei Satsuk, journalist and chief editor of the online publication EJ.BY, was detained on 25 March in Minsk by officers of the Department of Financial Investigations of the State Control Committee. The police confirmed that Satsuk was interrogated as a suspect in a criminal case. According to his relatives and friends, he is charged with receiving bribes. He faces 3 to 10 years jail term. Siarhei Satsuk is known for his investigative work. His last high-profile investigation denounced…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 72 journalists’ organisations across 45 countries, today called on Europe’s top human rights and democracy organization to protect free flow of information and ensure that media freedom is guaranteed as states strive to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. EFJ joined with nine other press freedom and journalists groups to write to the heads of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe to express its profound concerns over the dangers of governments taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to punish independent and critical media and introduce…

Amid growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, the Turkish government is accelerating the preparation of a draft law that will reportedly release up to 100,000 prisoners. This is a welcome step. Overcrowding and unsanitary facilities already pose a serious health threat to Turkey’s prison population of nearly 300,000 prisoners and about tens of thousands of prison staff. That will only be exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. However, we remain concerned that journalists, human rights defenders and others imprisoned for simply exercising their rights, and others who should be released, will remain behind bars in the package of…

The president of Romania Klaus Werner Iohannis signed on 16 March an emergency decree which, among other measures, allows the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) to order take-down notices for websites and news reports containing “fake news”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) believes that governments are right to tackle misinformation . However, these measures could lead to self-censorship. Public authorities may be tempted to abuse the powers to suppress coverage that deviates from the official line and tries to hold them accountable. The Romanian emergency decree includes an article on countering the spread of pandemic…

TV channel NewsOne journalist Tetiana Sivokon was physically attacked by a shop owner, in the Khmelnitsky region, while shooting a story about the sale of protective medical masks, on 24 March. Ukraine is experiencing masks shortage during the coronavirus pandemic. While preparing a report on this topic, NewsOne TV crew was informed by locals that the owner of a drug store had several large boxes with medical masks. The targeted journalist Tetiana Sivokon explained: “We went to this shop, saw the announcement that masks are in stock. I politely introduced myself and asked if I could buy masks. Seeing the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the major network of journalists’ organisations in Europe, today called on European leaders to protect free flow of information and ensure that media freedom will be guaranteed as states strive to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The EFJ joined together with eight other press freedom bodies and journalists’ organisations to express its profound concerns about the dangers of governments taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to punish independent and critical media and to introduce restrictions on the access of media to government decision making and action. While recognizing that certain emergency measures are needed to…