Russia launched two massive attacks in Ukraine between 29 December 2023 and 2 January 2024, which injured three journalists and damaged four newsrooms. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemned the attacks in the strongest terms and expressed solidarity with the media workers targeted. On 30 December 2023, two employees working for the German TV channel ZDF were injured by the shelling of the Kharkiv Palace Hotel which was mostly occupied by media workers at that moment. As a result, a security guard of foreign nationality who was working as a security advisor to ZDF, had to undergo…

On 27 and 29 December 2023, multiple journalists were detained by police in Moscow. Some of them were awaiting a verdict in the case of a group of activists accused for statements critical of the war in Ukraine. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Russian affiliate, the Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), are demanding the immediate release of these journalists, who were only doing their job. The police arrested journalist Mikhail Lebedev on 27 December near the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow, while he was filming a solidarity picket of activist Oksana Osadcha, who was calling for…

This article first featured on the Swedish Journalist union website Some 50 freelance writers at Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) have long been in negotiations with management about their fees. A demonstration supported by the Swedish Union of Journalists was held on Friday 8 December outside SvD in Stockholm following the break-down of negotiations, which had started in the spring of 2023. No significant increase in 20 years In addition to a symbolic adjustment in the spring, SvD’s freelancers emphasised in the negotiations that they have not received a significant increase in over twenty years and that they therefore earn less than…

Furkan Karabay, editor for the independent news website Gerçek Gündem (“The Real Agenda”),  was taken into custody by the Istanbul police on 28 December 2023, following an article on the trial of judiciary members. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) demand his immediate release and urge the authorities to withdraw all charges against him.  Karabay was taken to the Çağlayan Courthouse (Istanbul), by police officers who arrested him in the early hours of 28 December. After spending the night at the police station, the editor was released pending trial.  His detention follows a story published on 27 December,…

108 journalists spent New Year’s Eve in prison, according to a count by organisations affiliated to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism. While the overall number of journalists detained in Europe has fallen slightly compared to last year (108 instead of 124), repression has increased considerably in certain countries, such as Azerbaijan, where the number of journalists detained has almost quadrupled, as well as in Russia, which this year has become the country that imprisons the most journalists in Europe (40 in total, in Russia and occupied Ukraine). The…

120 journalists and media workers, including 11 women, have been killed in 2023, announced the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on 31 December. Four of them lost their lives in Europe: three in Ukraine and one in Albania. The IFJ, which published an initial list of journalists killed ahead of UN Human Rights Day on 8 December documenting 94 killings, says the latest increase is the result of additional deaths in the Gaza war as well as other killings being made known to the federation. “Today our thoughts go out to journalists’ families and our colleagues in world newsrooms who…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) are concerned about the political battle between the majority and opposition parties in Poland over the control of public service media. The EFJ and IFJ reiterate their call on political decision-makers to carry out reforms of public service media while respecting their editorial independence and maintaining the financial, human and technical resources necessary to guarantee the quality, independence and pluralism of these media. On Wednesday, following the decision of the President of the Republic, Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous conservative government, to suspend funding for public media, the new Polish Minister…

On 24 December, several journalists and media workers were targets of insults and physical violence while reporting on protests in Belgrade that objected to alleged  irregularities during general elections on 17 December. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) condemn the violent acts and urge the competent authorities to launch an immediate investigation. During the demonstrations, four attacks against journalists and media workers were recorded: three were perpetrated by law enforcement authorities, and one by a protester. The federations express consternation and outrage at those acts from the people whose exact mission is to defend and protect citizens.   Al Jazeera’s…

Our affiliates at the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) have just published their annual report. The figures show that the repression of journalists and the media has not abated: 32 journalists and media workers are in prison and 12 independent media have been declared “terrorist organisations”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins BAJ in denouncing the repeated violations of press freedom and human rights by the Lukashenko regime. In 2023, 46 journalists were arrested in Belarus, 33 media outlets were declared “extremists” and 12 other media outlest were declared “terrorists”. This observation comes at a time when the tech giants…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federations of Journalists (IFJ) condemn the repeated interference of political parties from all sides in the management of public broadcasting in Poland. On Saturday, Polish President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Poland’s former ruling populists, said he would veto state media subsidies proposed in a budget-related bill as part of a row over the government’s reform of state media. The veto will escalate a growing stand-off between Duda and the new pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The IFJ and EFJ call on political decision-makers to refrain from direct political…

The Italian Chamber of Deputies approved on 11 December an amendment to article 114 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Codice di Procedura Penale) on the publication of judicial documents. If the amendment is passed by the Senate, journalists would not have the right to publish extracts or full pre-trial detention orders until after the proceedings (including the reasons behind the pre-trial detention, and the precautionary measures – restrictions on movements, house arrests or imprisonment).  This amendment is not a requirement in the EU legislation, which limits itself to the obligation to recognising the presumption of innocence until, and if, the…

Update (27.12.2023): the trial has been postponed to 24 December 2024. Ali Kişmir, president of the Cyprus Turkish Journalists’ Union (Basin-Sen) will face on 28 December a trial for an opinion article he published on social media back in 2020 in which he criticised the politics of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”  Accused of  “insulting and mocking” the security forces, he faces up to 10 years in prison. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) both stand with Kişmir and urge the authorities of Northern Cyprus to withdraw charges against him. In 2020,…

Local media and community outlets have at the core of their works the social issues they strive to impact. The latest LM4D blog post by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) explores the social integration efforts of local news. Researchers Urbano Reviglio and Danielle Borges explore social integration techniques by local and community media outlets in the EU. They spotlight specific best practices from “street newspapers”, newspapers or magazines targeted at people in marginalised communities. Innovative responses offered by local media outlets are essential to survive the harsh competition of the attention economy. While local and community…

The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) reached an agreement on Monday 18 December 2023 with the two main employers, DPG and Mediahuis, on pay rises for both freelance and employed journalists. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the agreement, which will improve journalists’ working conditions in the Netherlands in a context of falling purchasing power caused by inflation. Work stoppages took place in recent months to put pressure on the negotiations under the slogan “Give us back our wages”. In October, some news editorial teams stopped work and took a “coffee break”, while in November, some media websites were…

The Local Media for Democracy project (LM4D) is supporting 25 small media outlets and freelance journalist groups from around Europe in the second round of funding. They will receive a total of  €667,854 funding as well as mentorship to strengthen their reach and funding models so that they can better serve their local communities. The 25 media outlets and journalist groups are from: Bulgaria (1), Czech Republic (3), France (2), Greece (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (2), Poland (6), Portugal (3), Romania (3), Slovakia (1), Slovenia (2) and Spain (1).  The jury, whose identities are anonymous, selected initiatives that operate in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption on Friday of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the final version of which no longer refers to the possibility of spying on journalists on the basis of vague “national security” imperatives. This is a victory for all defenders of press freedom and democracy. Pending an in-depth analysis of the text of the agreement and the precise guarantees it puts forward to protect journalistic sources, the EFJ would like to thank the key players in the trilogue negotiations, European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun, and MEPs Sabine…