Slovak journalists are demanding for action in the murder investigation of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírova, which after six months has not given any results. In an open letter, signed by over 300 Slovak colleagues, journalists call for not forgetting the murder and ensuring the independent investigation. European and International Federations of Journalists stand in support with their Slovak colleagues in asking the state authorities to ensure the continuation of a thorough and effective investigation without further delays. Slovak journalists are raising concerns on the actual independence of the current investigation of the murder, concerning the Kuciak’s own findings on…

RES-MPA correspondent Stratis Balaska has been under online and verbal attacks by members of neo-nazi movement “Golden Dawn” after publishing an editorial on August 15th. The publication covered history of Mytilene’s Chapel of Virgin Mary and its significance to the refugee women. Death threats, harassment and incitement to “punishment he deserves” were sent to journalists on Facebook. The threats online were a part of series of threats against Stratis Balaska because of his journalistic work. He was verbally attacked by three men, who he said to be extremists, on the street at the port of Mytilene, Lesbos, on August 12th. After…

One of six Finnish journalists have received some form of threats connected to their professional work, revealed a survey, conducted by the Union of Journalists of Finland (UJF) in 2016. Among them, topics focusing on issues related to immigration, asylum seeking and Russian interference prompt the most negative response and the highest number of attacks against journalists online. The Finnish newsrooms developed a number of measures and protocols to address the rising issue of online harassment, which proved to be successful. One of the advanced steps has been implemented by the public broadcaster Yle by introducing community management, which is…

Members of a TV crew working for German public broadcaster ZDF´s investigative political magazine programme Frontal21 were detained by police during 45 minutes, on 16 August, after a complaint by a participant at a Pegida (far-right) demonstration in Dresden. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its German affiliates, DJV and dju in ver.di, in condemning the Saxon police action. Footage shot by the camera team, which included broadcast journalists Ulrich Stoll and Arndt Ginzel, shows a procession of demonstrators including one man shouting “Lügenpresse!” (“lying press”) while looking and pointing at the camera team. The footage also shows the…

UPDATE (21/08/2018): Ukrainian media and human rights organisations issued a statement today to condemn the so-called “interview” with detained journalist Stanislav Aseev aired by Rossiya 24. ————– Russian television channel Rossiya 24 has aired on August 17 an interview with kidnapped journalist Stanislav Aseev, in which he “confesses” to working for Ukrainian intelligence in Donbass. The interview has raised concerns that Aseev, who has been illegally imprisoned in Donetsk for over a year, was coerced into confessing to false espionage charges. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has said it considers the “confession” of spying for the Ukrainian government given by Stanislav Aseyev “to…

A collaboration of a team of media scholars, Jakob-Moritz Eberla, Christine E. Meltzerb, Tobias Heidenreicha, Beatrice Herreroc, Nora Theorind, Fabienne Linda, Rosa Berganzac, Hajo G. Boomgaardena, Christian Schemerb, and Jesper Strömbäckd, resulted in a publication “European media discourse on migration and its effects: a literature review“, which sets to explore the landscape of media research covering the media discourse on immigration and its effects across Europe. The literature review addresses a general problem of under-representation and depicting migrants as delinquents or criminals. Although, media framing differs for specific migrant groups and used discourses, immigration coverage is often negative and conflict-centered, the publication shows. Repetitive exposure to negative messages on migrants leads to…

At this time of an unprecedented assault on the free press of the United States by the Trump administration, the European Federation of Journalists stands in solidarity with US journalists as they do their crucial work. Yesterday, 16th August 2018, around 350 American newspapers published coordinated editorial responses to President Donald J. Trump’s repeated attacks on free media. Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Reuters Institute) commented for the European Journalism Observatory that “Trump professes a strong dislike for much of the media, labelling those who have the temerity to offer anything other than unconditional support “the enemy of the American people”, and…

Series of administrative intimidation acts have been taken by the local authorities against Serbian news portal Juzne Vesti, with an increasing pressure in the last six months. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) reported that the long lasting intimidation against the news portal works as a model for putting pressure on media critical to the government in Serbia. The last investigation of Juzne Vesti resulted in a legal notice against the news portal obliging it to pay a million dinars (more or less 8,400 EUR), even though no irregularities in tax activities were found. During the last five years, Juzne Vesti were subjected to…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Romanian affiliate MediaSind in firmly condemning the violent clashes in Bucharest which left many demonstrators and journalists injured, on Friday evening, August 10. The clashes left 452 wounded, including journalists. Romanian gendarmes assaulted and verbally attacked with no reason journalists covering the protest around Victoriei Square, in Bucharest. Cases of physical attacks were reported by journalists Robert Mihăilescu (Hotnews.ro), Cristi Stefanescu (DW) and Vlad Ursulean (Casa Jurnalistului), by photojournalists Ioana Moldovan (Documentaria.ro) and Silviu Matei (Agerpres), and by reporter Cristian Popa and cameraperson Cristi Ban (Digi24 news TV). A camera operator of the Austrian…

Several amendments to the Electoral Code were passed  by the Macedonian Parliament on 25 July 2018 in a fast-track procedure, as a result of a political agreement between the leaders of the four main political parties. An amendment to the Electoral Code empowers the State Election Commission to register and monitor online media reporting on the elections. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) supports its Macedonian affiliates, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM-ZNM), the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), joined by the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, in criticising the new Electoral Code, as the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) in condemning the decision of District State Attorney of Split to reject criminal charges for death threats on Facebook against journalists of Index. The rejection of charges raises concerns on protection of journalists against intimidation and harassment in Croatia, which by all means should be secured for journalists to be able to continue their work. The court decision was announced after a complaint made by Index journalists against a former veteran, who left a comment on the Facebook page of the news site, stating “these Index journalists should be…

Over 40 journalists have disappeared or been killed in the territory of Serbia since the break of former Yugoslavia in 1992, but only few investigations were concluded, even with interference and support from international organisations. The Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists in Serbia has been working in solving the cases since 2012. The decision to expand its capabilities and resources to further the fight against impunity for murders of journalists was announced by the president of the Commission Veran Matic, on 2 August. The scope now is set to include murders of journalists on the territories of Kosovo and…

Hír TV, one of the last independent television broadcaster in Hungary, announced significant changes in the editorial and management teams on 1 August 2018, following its purchase by pro-government businessman Zsolt Nyerges in July. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is alarmed by this new attempt to control the media in Hungary. The announcement on the channel’s website stated that Hír TV “returns to its old values, continuing where it was left in 2015“. The TV channel used to follow a pro-governmental line until 2015, when the relationship between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the former owner Lajos Simicska deteriorated, which then modified the editorial policy.…

The European Federation of Journalists joined the International Federation of Journalists in strongly condemning the murder of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic, in what local authorities said was an ambush by an unidentified group of armed men. The reporters were investigating the activities of so-called Wagner group, a group of private military contractors. In response to the killings, which happened on 30 July, the IFJ demanded that the Central African authorities carry out a thorough investigation to bring the material and intellectual perpetrators of this crime to justice. Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev and Orkhan Dzhemal, who worked for…

Reporter and editor of a Cyprus daily newspaper “Afrika” Sener Levent and journalist Ali Osman have been informed by the local police officers in Northern Cyprus that a prosecution process has been launched against them in Ankara, Turkey, over criticism towards military actions of Turkey in Syria and the Turkish government. There are two cases filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara against the journalists. The first one concerns a publication released in January 2018 criticising the military operation in Afrin led by Turkey, comparing it to Turkish occupation of Cyprus, to which the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…

Several journalists were attacked during a violent protest of Army of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic veterans on 26th of July, in Sarajevo. A photojournalist of Klix.ba online news portal has been attacked by a group of violent protesters after refusing to stop taking photographs. Reporters from Al Jazeera Balkans TV intervened trying to protect him, but they were also violently attacked by other protesters. The photojournalist was taken to the hospital afterwards. After the incident, one of the protesters, who was filmed attacking the journalists with a metal stick, claimed that “it was not over”, listing other journalists who she…