The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the call by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to enforce Council of Europe standards on media freedom. This must be the top priority for the next Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who will be elected in June. Meeting in Strasbourg on 25 January, PACE emphasised the pressing need “to enforce the high standards on media freedom which the Council of Europe has established, to ensure effective protection of journalists and to uphold in all member States a friendly and safe environment for media independence and pluralism”. It…

Journalists sometimes find themselves in high-risk environments for their physical safety, because of the nature of the assignment or because they are ill-equipped and poorly trained in safety issues. According to a 2022 EFJ survey about the risk perceptions and safety concerns of journalists in Europe, media professionals seriously lack training and awareness while threats and intimidation at work are increasing. Based on these findings, the ‘Local Cross-Border Investigative Journalism’ (CBLocal) project integrated an important element of journalists’ safety in its grant programme supporting cross-border investigations. Four journalists underwent an online safety course for two weeks with media safety expert…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined 17 other media freedom and journalist organisations in writing to the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, the High Representative for the European Union on Foreign and Security Policy, urging him to call for the protection of journalists and respect for the freedom of the press amidst the Israel-Gaza war. The letter outlines the unprecedented number of journalists who died: the Israel-Gaza war one of the single worst events for the loss of journalistic life in such a short space of time. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the International Federation…

25 January 2024 10:00 CET Register here On 15 December 2022, the European Council granted Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status for EU membership. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 accelerated the EU enlargement process, Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet to improve its environment for the media to continue on its path towards potential EU accession, as limited progress has been made since submitting its application in 2016. In this MFRR webinar, speakers will discuss the findings of a recent press freedom fact-finding mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighting the suffocating environment for independent journalists in the country and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join a mission to Romania with the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). The mission aims to take the pulse of the current state of press freedom and independent journalism as the country gears up for a super electoral year in 2024. The mission will consist of two parts: an initial online fact-finding element involving meetings with media, journalists and civil society stakeholders, followed by an in-person visit to Bucharest later in the year to meet with political leaders and state authorities. The initial element of the mission will take place over the week…

Azerbaijan is facing a worrying wave of arrests and repression against independent journalists and media outlets. Since November 2023, 10 journalists have been detained, according to Agence France Presse (AFP). The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) strongly condemn the crackdown on media freedom as new arrests have taken place in recent days. On 13 January 2024, Elnara Gasimova, a reporter with the Abzas Media investigative news site, was sentenced to a pre-trial detention until 4 April on charges of smuggling. Two days later, JAM news journalist Shahin Rzayev was arrested on charges of “petty hooliganism” and sentenced to…

Updates on some of the biggest developments and threats to media freedom and pluralism across European Union Member States throughout 2023 were submitted to the EU Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report by partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). On 15 January 2024, MFRR consortium partners Free Press Unlimited (FPU), International Press Institute (IPI) and the Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) filed detailed submissions to the report on the topic of media freedom and pluralism in Hungary, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The joint and individual submissions provide information of major developments in the media…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expresses its anger at the unacceptable comments made towards awarded journalist Dora Kršul and the media outlet Telegram.hr by the Minister of Culture and Media of Croatia. We demand an immediate apologies and a retraction. “Malicious fake news”: those were the words used by Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek in interviews, to talk about articles published by Telegram.hr and written by Dora Kršul. Discredit, an overused technique, is particularly worrying for the state of press freedom in a country when it comes from the Minister responsible for the media. The journalist, on 15 January, published a follow-up…

The Croatian Parliament began on 18 January 2024 reviewing amendments to the criminal code tabled by the government to criminalise the unauthorised leaking of documents from criminal proceedings. The text provides for up to three years’ imprisonment for anyone disclosing the contents of “an investigative or evidentiary document”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), in calling for the proposed legislation to be dropped, as it would have alarming repercussions for journalistic sources and the right to information. While a paragraph has been added to exempt journalists from criminal liability, the proposed amendments…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned international freedom of expression and media freedom organisations today in renewing our condemnation of a groundless defamation lawsuit filed against Greek journalists and media by Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew of the Prime Minister, and urge the plaintiff to urgently withdraw the lawsuit ahead of an upcoming hearing. With the first hearing due at an Athens court of First Instance on 25 January, 2024 after a year-and-a-half delay, our organisations restate our shared characterisation of this lawsuit as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) – a vexatious effort to muzzle investigative…

Come to the Voices Festival as an awardee! The Voices Awards are organised within the Voices Festival, a brand-new itinerant event co-funded by the European Commission to celebrate Journalism and Media Literacy in Europe. It will recognize the works of journalists that best convey the values and goals of the Voices Festival, which will take place in Florence on 15-16 March 2024. The award winners will receive a monetary award of €1.000 each and will have a dedicated space to present their work to the Festival community. Journalists can apply to one of the five categories: 1. Up-and-coming: innovative and…

Ukrainian investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov said on Monday that he received a visit from unidentified people threatening him. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliates in Ukraine, NUJU and IMTUU, call on the Ukrainian authorities to identify the perpetrators of the threats and ensure the protection of the journalist. Nikolov is a co-founder and an editor of the Nashi Groshi investigative media project. He is well known for his investigations exposing corruption in Ukraine’s public procurement, including the Defense Ministry. Nikolov’s investigations into inflated prices for food supplies and low-quality winter jackets for the military prompted the ousting…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today renew their call for democratic and comprehensive reform to Poland’s public broadcasters which creates systematic safeguards to limit the ability of all governments, future and present, to meddle in editorial or institutional independence of the country’s public media. The MFRR coalition also reaffirms the set of recommendations for steps that can be taken by the new coalition government to improve the wider situation for media freedom and independent journalism in Poland. These recommendations were jointly developed following a recent mission of…

On the evening of 10 January, a Russian missile attack damaged the Park Hotel in Kharkiv, injuring Anadolu’s reporter Davit Kachkachishvili, photojournalist Özge Elif Kızıl, and Ukrainian fixer Violetta-Anastasia Pedorych. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) strongly condemn the attack and demand that journalists should be treated and protected as civilians. Anadolu reporter Davit Kachkachishvili and photojournalist Özge Elif Kızıl, who were on duty at the Park Hotel at the time of the attack, were able to leave the hotel with minor injuries, Anadolureports. A hotel where Anadolu reporters covering war in Ukraine are staying targeted by missiles…

Global Media Group (GMG), one of the largest media organisations in Portugal, is facing severe managerial difficulties impacting the future of the company and damaging labours’ rights. Job security and media pluralism are at stake, warns the Portuguese Union of Journalists (SinJor).  In September 2023, a new board took over the direction of GMG, which owns Diário de Notícias, Jornal de Notícias and TSF. The group is now backed by an investment fund owned by French businessman Clément Ducasse: World Opportunity Fund Ltd (WOF). Listed in the tax-haven Bahamas (Caribbean), it is registered by the Bahamas International Securities Exchange as…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined media freedom partners in the SafeJournalist Network, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in writing to the head of the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK). We expressed our concerns over the recent actions SPAK has taken to seize journalist Elton Qyno’s equipment and to pressure him to reveal his sources. The letter urges the SPAK to proceed in the legal case with  respect for international standards regarding the protection of journalistic sources.   Mr. Altin Dumani Head of the Special Prosecution against Corruption and…