The crackdown on Belarusian journalists has been intensifying, with 50 fines already issued during 2018, mostly for cooperation with foreign media, and in numerous cases, the amounts were exceeding the average salary of the country, highlighted Andrei Bastunent, the chairperson of Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ) during a press conference in Brussels back in June 2018. The representatives of BAJ visited Brussels on 19th of June, 2018, as a part of IFJ and EBU cooperation “Media for Democratic Belarus”, to meet the European Institutions and OSCE for discussing the new amendments of the Media Law, as well as the situation of the freedom of press…

Following months of debates and controversial discussions, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) adopted today its position on a Proposal for a Directive on copyright in the Digital single market. The International and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) applauds the positive outcome of the vote regarding the transparency triangle but warns against dangerous provision that are directly affecting journalists’ authors’ rights. The IFJ and EFJ join the voices of European authors’ organisations in welcoming the backing by an overwhelming majority of eurodeputies of the transparency triangle forcing publishers and broadcasters to provide regular reporting on the exploitation…

Seventeen international freedom of expression and professional organisations have sent a joint letter with their demands for how to protect and strengthen media freedom and independent journalism in Turkey to all candidates in the upcoming presidential elections : Your term starts in critical times. Freedom of expression in particular has declined drastically in the last couple of years in your country. To this day, more than 150 journalists remain in prison, thousands of critical thought leaders have lost their jobs and a large number of them have left the country. We, the undersigned international freedom of expression and professional organisations,…

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee will vote tomorrow on a landmark Directive that could have positive effects on journalists’ authors’ rights and on our profession’s revenues. However, a number of amendments have been tabled to jeopardise significant benefits for journalists. While the current draft proposal to be voted on tomorrow introduces some key elements that would strengthen journalists’ bargaining power, namely a transparency obligation on their media employers to report on the exploitation that is made of journalistic works, several amendments clearly intend to seriously reduce the scope of the transparency obligation. One of the most controversial issues in…

BIRN will be gathering some of the world’s best-known editors and trainers to a Romanian resort in Poiana Brasov to teach the course members investigative tips and tricks. The training will be lead by one of the best investigative editors in the US, Reuters’ Blake Morrison, a three-times finalist for the Pulitzer investigative award, together with the New York Times senior journalist Christoph Koettl; co-creator of one of the best podcast series in US and winner of an Emmy and three Peabody awards Susanne Reber; Knight International Journalism Award winner and OCCRP editor Miranda Patrucic; European Press Prize winner Bellingcats’ Christiaan Triebert; ICIJ journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia and award winning BIRN’s investigative editor, Lawrence…

Concerns on the quality and reliability of news has grown globally during the year 2017-2018, and consumers are expecting the media companies and technology companies to take action against the misinformation, while the opinions are much more mixed when it comes to government intervention in these cases. The 2018 Digital News Report, published on 14 June by the Reuters Institute for the study of journalism, reveals more interesting patterns and changes in the behaviour of news consumption globally. Growing concerns on misinformation The research shows that 54% of respondents globally are concerned about what is real or fake on internet.…

UPDATE 15.06.2018 Stefan Cvetković, the Serbian journalists reported missing on the night between 13-14 of June, has been found unhurt by the local authorities in the northern town of Bela Crkva and has been taken to the local police station, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic told in a news conference. The further information on the situation is yet to be released. ———————- European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) expressed a deep concern regarding the disappearance of a Serbian journalist Stefan Cvetković on the night between 13th and 14th of June 2018, as reported by the local authorities. Stefan Cvetković has been…

The life threatening conditions of journalists working in Western Balkans and Turkey is a part of everyday reporting, however, the struggle is not always about the danger, as noted by Renate Schroeder, director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). The opening remarks were made at the preview of the photo exhibition “Journalists’ working conditions in Western Balkans and Turkey” on the 12th of June 2018, at the Press Club Brussels. The photographs from local photographers and photojournalists depict the reality which tends to be kept behind the lenses of reporting – ranging from being on guard on the field…

How to renew and modernise journalists’ unions in order to face tomorrow and manage change in the media? More than 40 leaders of journalists’ organisations across Europe gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, on 4-5 June 2018, to discuss the above-mentioned issues in a workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with its affiliate in Portugal, Sindicatos dos jornalistas (SJ). Reach out to the young and freelance journalists The participants strongly agreed on the importance to address the needs of the new generation of journalists, particularly affected by job insecurity. Studies shows that their salaries are lower and their labour rights…

The Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 6 June, 2018 adopted a series of resolutions and declarations.   Resolutions & Declarations – 2018 (EN) Résolutions et déclarations – 2018 (FR) Welcome speech by EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard President speech – Steering Committee report   Photo Credit :  @sindikatmedija

Speech by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård (EFJ President) Welcome to the EFJ Annual meeting 2018. For the first time we have our annual meeting in Portugal and it is great to be here, thanks to our Portuguese colleagues to host us. Being host during difficult times is admirable. You know better than most of us how difficult the time is for our profession regarding precarious work, low payment and dismissals. I also want to emphasize that it is amazing how your union has been able – not least en terms of relevance – to develop and to meet new demands in very difficult…

Delegates of the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists, meeting in Lisbon, Portugal on June 6, 2018 have mandated the Steering Committee members of the EFJ to adopt an urgent motion on “threats against journalists in Ukraine” in order to put an end to climate of threats, violence and persecution against our colleagues in this country. Following the decision, the Steering Committee members have adopted on June 8, 2018 the following motion : The Annual Meeting of the EFJ, meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 6th, 2018, condemns the increasing verbal and online violence against journalists in Ukraine.…

The European Federation of Journalists cordially invites you to the exhibition preview “Journalists’ working conditions in the Western Balkans and Turkey ” on Tuesday 12 June, from 17h30 to 19h. The preview will take place at the Press Club Brussels and will be followed by a drink. This exhibition is organized in the framework of the “Building trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey” which receives financial support from the EU and the UNESCO. It seeks to strengthen freedom of expression, access to information, free, independent and pluralistic media, ensuring that journalists and media are key drivers for democratic,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent a letter to Gernot Blümel, Austrian Minister for the European Union (EU), Art, Culture and Media on 7 June 2018 to urge him to support the Austrian public service media (ORF). The EFJ annual meeting, which took place yesterday in Lisbon with affiliates, journalists and trade unionists from around 40 countries, unanomously adopted the resolution “On the situation of Austrian public service media with letter to the Austrian governement” calling on the Austrian government to ensure the future of the public service media. We stand in solidarity with our Austrian affiliate the Union of…

Robot journalism or automation is becoming an important part of news production. It speed up news production and generate a vast amount of content in a matter of sector to be distributed and consumed in print and online. However, we know little about how news automation work and its implication on ethics and quality of journalism, as well as the impact on human journalists. These questions were explored in a workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) within the framework of the Media Road project on 5 June in Lisbon, Portugal. The workshop was attended by around 40…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemned today the increasing verbal and online violence against journalists in Ukraine. On 30 May 2018, Larissa Sargan, spokeswoman of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, posted on her Facebook profile a list of 26 so-called “traitors” who criticized the law enforcement authorities after the so-called “murder” in Kyiv of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko. The “murder” was in fact an operation in which Ukrainian security services (SBU) faked Babchenkos’s assassination. Two journalists appear in Larissa Sargan’s list of so-called traitors: Myroslava Gongadze and Sergiy Tomilenko, who is the President of the National Union…