The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) along with other 19 press freedom and freedom of expression organizations sent a joint letter on 16 May to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling for justice following the recent physical attacks against two journalists, Yavuz Selim Demirağ and İdris Özyol. The letter urges the government to publicly denounce these acts of violence and ensure journalist safety in the run-up to the mayoral elections in Istanbul set for 23 June 2019. May 16, 2019 Your Excellency, President Erdoğan We are writing to you to express our serious concern over the brutal attacks on journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined their affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN), in condemning the arson attack on Greek investigative journalist Mina Karamitrou’s car. The car, parked in the Athens suburb Papagou outside Karamitrou’s home, was set on fire on 14 May 2019 at about 2:30 a.m. by a flammable liquid. According to local news reports nobody was injured. Karamitrou is a well known police reporter for CNN’s Greek edition. According to the Greek news website Skai, the police has opened an investigation on the case. Up to…

Turkish Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirag was violently attacked by a group of unidentified men armed with baseball bats on May 10 in Ankara. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemn the aggression and urge the authorities to protect press freedom. Yavuz, a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and supporter of an opposition party, was attacked after appearing on a TV Show on Friday night. He was immediately sent to the hospital, his newspaper The Yenicag said. His life is not in danger, however. The assault happened in a context of growing…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) elected its new Steering Committee on Friday 10 May 2019, during its General Meeting taking place in Tallinn, Estonia. More than 90 participants including delegates and observers from 49 EFJ member organisations in 36 countries attended the General Meeting to elect the next Steering Committee members and to adopt the EFJ working programme for the next three years (2020-2022). The EFJ Steering Committee is now composed of 4 women and 5 men: Mogens BLICHER BJERREGÅRD, DJ, Denmark (President) Marta BARCENILLA, FSC-CCOO, Spain (Vice-President) Marijana CAMOVIC, TUMM, Montenegro Anna DEL FREO, FNSI, Italy Yannis KOTSIFOS,…

The European Federation of Journalists has expressed concerns over the state of media freedom and independence in Hungary following the publication of a study showing that the majority of media in the country are pro-government. It was published on 2 May by the media monitor Mérték and investigates the level of independence of the Hungarian media, stating almost 78% of the media are pro-government. The study, commissioned by a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Sven Giegold (the Greens), shows the far-reaching media power of the ruling Fidez-party. In November 2018 the creation of the government-related media foundation KESMA uniting…

Creative Skills Europe, the European Platform on Employment and Training in the Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors, is a project which aims at collecting information and at developing tools to help the cultural and creative sectors adjust their skills to the realities of the field. Ran by a partnership of European trade unions of (including the European Federation of Jounalists), employers’ organisations, and national skills bodies, Creative Skills Europe looks at creating national and European synergies, and at inspiring new types of actions, both at company level and in a collective way at sector level. After four thematic workshops in…

Female journalists in the French-speaking part of Belgium are leaving their jobs making a very low proportion of them in the media, said in a recent study published by the EFJ member the Belgian professional association of journalists (AJP) for the French-speaking region. “We have a very low proportion of female journalists (35%) in French-speaking Belgium”, explained Sophie Lejoly, General Depute Secretary of AJP. “However, there are more female students than male, and slightly more women entering the profession. So the reason for the low figure is that these female journalists left their jobs at some point.” The study shows…

Ukrainian investigative journalist Vadym Komarov is in a coma after being assaulted by an unidentified person on 4th May. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their affiliate the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) in condemning the attack and urge the Ukrainian authorities to ensure a safe working environment for journalists and bring those responsible to justice. According to the police, Komarov was attacked early in the morning on 4th May as he was walking in the city centre of Cherkasy, Ukraine. He was severely beaten and hospitalised. The police have launched…

Around 30 journalists and journalists’ representatives from 20 European countries attended the workshop on “Increasing gender equality and diversity in the workplace” on 28 and 29 May in Istanbul, Turkey. Co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the workshop aimed to provide best practices and concrete tools to improve equality between male and female journalists and to counter growing online harrassment. Programme Panel 1 – Gender equality and diversity in the workplace: what works in Europe? Presentation by Gülfem Karatas (TGS) Panel 2 – Fighting stereotypes in the news: towards better representation…

To mark World Press Freedom Day on 3rd May, journalists from across the world are joining forces to launch tips for safe and fair coverage of elections at a time when politicians and their supporters are increasingly turning their fire on reporters. The EFJ supports IFJ campaign exposing the abuse of power, disinformation, internet shutdowns, self-censorship, harassment and violence as ongoing challenges facing journalists when reporting elections. The campaign is calling on governments to ensure a safe working environment for journalists to allow them to report with full objectivity, impartiality and balance and on all politicians not to stigmatise media. This…

  The EFJ together with its Austrian and German members GPA-djp and Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) declare their solidarity with the presenter of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) Armin Wolf, who has been under massive hostility from politicians and supporters of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) for days. The FPÖ is a member of the Austrian government. The trigger was a live interview on ORF 2 on 23 April with FPÖ Secretary General Harald Vilimsky. He was invited as a candidate to the european parliament elections. Wolf compared a cartoon on a FPÖ election poster to one showing a…

Journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead while she was covering the riots at the Creggan housing estate in the city of Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland, on Thursday night 19 April. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their affiliate the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland in condemning this killing and call on a full investigation into her death. A former Belfast Telegraph journalist and a NUJ member, Lyra McKee, 29, was a freelancer and a novelist. The riots took place in the run-up to the Easter weekend, which…

 Johanna Vehkoo, a Finnish journalist, has been found guilty of defaming local city counselor Junes Lokka by referring to him as a racist and ‘nazi clown’ in a 2016 Facebook post. The politician is known as an anti-immigration activist with a history of making far-right extreme pronouncements, for which he was fined. Vehkoo  has written extensively about ‘fake’ news, hate speech and the problems they pose for journalism. The court found that Vehkoo’s comments on her Facebook page constituted a personal attack on Lokka and that she did not focus her criticism on his politics.  She was ordered to pay…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IJF) today expressed serious concerns over the new Russian law on “fake” news and the “lack of respect for the state, the authorities, and society”, warning it is likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country. The EFJ and IFJ urge the Russian authorities to review the legislation which came into force on 18 March and to give greater consideration to representation of the Union of Journalists of Russia (RUJ), an EFJ-IFJ affiliate. Under this law, the “flagrant” disrespect for the state, public authorities, official symbols and society…

Following calls for anti-government protests at the Serbian private TV Pink offices, the  European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) today joined their Serbian affiliates NUNS, UNS and SINOS in urging protesters to refrain from all forms of violence against journalists and appealing to all stakeholders to ensure journalists’ safety and the protection of the media’s property. In statement signed by eight media organisation, including three IFJ and EFJ affiliates NUNS, UNS and SINOS said that citizens have the right to express their dissatisfaction with the social or political situation in the country through peaceful actions, including protests…

After lawyer and civil rights activist Zuzana Čaputová was elected as Slovakia’s first female president on 30 March 2019, EFJ and several freedom of expression organisations joined the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) to send her a letter, drawing attention to the press and media freedom situation in the country.     To: Ms Zuzana Čaputová 2 April 2019 Dear President-elect Čaputová, Congratulations for winning the presidential election in Slovakia on 30 March 2019.  Your victory marks a strong demand of the Slovak people for change, for true democracy under the rule of law – one year…