The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Alliance Internationale de Journalistes (AIJ) are organising a roundtable discussion on Refugees and Migrants, the inconvenient truths – Journalism against bias and stereotypes in Brussels on Tuesday, 4th October 2016 from 11.00 – 14.00 at Magritte room (3rd floor) Residence Palace, rue de la loi 155, 1040 Brussels Introduction Migrants and refugees have suddenly jumped to the top of the news agenda. During 2015 television screens and newspapers have been filled with stories about the appalling loss of life and suffering of thousands of people escaping war in the Middle East or oppression and poverty in…

On the first officially-recognised International Right to Know Day, European civil society groups and professional organisations (including the European Federation of Journalists) working on the right of access to information today raised concerns that a lack of government transparency is damaging democratic processes, thereby facilitating rising mistrust and demagogic populism in Europe. Recent monitoring by civil society organisations has demonstrated that while significant progress has been made – there are now 111 access to information laws globally and governments regularly publish key datasets on spending and services – there remain serious shortcomings with transparency of decision making which is shielding…

 The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) launched a solidarity campaign with the Turkish journalists following the new attacks on press freedom and human rights in Turkey since the coup attempt on 15 July. We invite EFJ/IFJ affiliates and partners to help the Turkish colleagues by: sending a letter to the Turkish ambassador in your country and/or your national government (sample letters enclosed) sending a contribution to the IFJ Safety Fund in order to support individual requests from Turkey (Bank account BE64 2100 7857 0052; Swift Code GEBABEBB; communication “Solidarity Turkey”) sharing in your social media and website the visual “Did you…

Delegates of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) meeting at the 29th World Congress in Angers elected Philippe Leruth, member of the Belgian Association Générale des Journalistes Professionnels de Belgique (AGJPB) as president of their organization on 9 June 2016. Journalist at the daily L’Avenir, Philippe Leruth was vice-president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European organisation of the IFJ, from 2004 to 2013, and AGJPB president from 1995 to 2005. He is taking over from departing British President, Jim Boumelha, who headed the IFJ from 2007 to 2016. “The first challenge is to restore IFJ unity” said the newly elected…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has elected its new Steering Committee for 2016-2019 during its General Meeting in Sarajevo on 25 and 26 of April.   PRESIDENT       Mogens BLICHER BJERREGARD Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ), Denmark  VICE-PRESIDENT     Nadezda AZGIKHINA Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), Russia SC MEMBERS John BARSBY National Union of Journalists (NUJ), United Kingdom   Andreas BITTNER  German Federation of Journalists (DJV), Germany   Marijana CAMOVIC  Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), Montenegro Anna DEL FREO  Italian National Press Federation (FNSI), Italy Yannis KOTSIFOS  Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers (ESIEMTH), Greece…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was invited by the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists &Democrats in the European Parliament to a seminar on Diversity in Media and Culture Versus Convergence  on Thursday 7 of April. Ms Maria Joao Rodrigues, S&D Vice President and the chair of the Culture Committee Silvia Costa introduced the seminar highlighting the group’s priorities for pluralism, culture, media and communication as major sources of development and as a way to integrate European citizens within the European public sphere. Dr Elda Brogi from the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) exposed the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) are organising a two-day Cyber Security Training for Journalists on 25 – 27 May in Leuven, Belgium. This is the second training on cyber security organised by the EFJ and ETUI. The first training successfully took place in January 2015. The second training targets at professional journalists with digital background. He or she should have good technical skills and have an interest in digital media issues and surveillance law. The EFJ encourages members to nominate their journalist members to attend this training. The training will be in…

To mark the International Women’s Day on 8 March, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) partners with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) to launch a special Women’s Reporting Point to address the growing threat facing women journalists coming from online and offline world. The Women’s Reporting Point is hosted by the ECPMF to allow victims to report threats via encrypted messaging. The report will be handled with care and confidentiality by a female member of the staff. The reports made to the ECPMF will be collected in a database (with details of the woman’s identity removed)…

The Italian National Press Federation (FNSI, EFJ-IFJ affiliate) together with USIGRai, Articolo 21, RSF Italy, Amnesty Italy and other press freedom groups organised a demonstration today (21/01/2016) in front of the Turkish embassy in Rome  to protest against grave attacks on press freedom in Turkey. This includes the ongoing prosecution of journalists Ceyda Karan and Hikmet Cetinkaya in Turkey for publishing the cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The two journalists working for the daily Cumhuriyet are accused by 11 plaintiffs (including family members of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan) of “deliberately willing to humiliate the religious values of the big part…

First Hungary and now is Poland threatening Europe’s media freedom. Regardless of the safeguard of European Fundamental Rights charter and declaration, governments attempt to influence media will inevitably threaten our democracies.   On Thursday 7 January, the president of Poland ignored core EU fundamental rights including press freedom by signing one of the most criticized media laws in the history of the EU. Following that, the EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger has openly criticized Poland for infringing “common European values” by passing legislation that gives the government control of the state media and the power to directly appoint the heads of…

CV Professional profile 1989-2016: staff journalist at Il Sole 24 Ore, the main Italian economic and financial daily newspaper, covering the following sectors: 2009 -2016 Editorial responsibilities on trade, exports, globalization, emerging countries’ economy, Italian enterprise in the global market. 2003 – 2009  Technological innovation and its impact on the market and on society 1998 – 2002 Foreign desk : Export, globalization, economy of the emerging countries, Italian enterprises in the global market. 1993 – 1998 Italian economy desk, writing about Job, labour issues, labour market. 1989 – 1993 Foreign desk: writing about the EEC (now the EU) and integration…

  The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will hold its General Meeting on 25 -26 April and elect its upcoming Steering Committee for 2016 – 2019. The candidates are:   PRESIDENT       Mogens BLICHER BJERREGARD Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ), Denmark View candidate profile and statement       VICE-PRESIDENT     Nadezda AZGIKHINA Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), Russia View candidate profile and statement SC MEMBERS     Yuriy LUKANOV IMTUU, Ukraine   Alberto CHEZZI USGI, Marino         John BARSBY National Union of Journalists (NUJ), United Kingdom View candidate profile and statement   Andreas BITTNER German…

Update (07/07/2016): The prosecuted journalists were acquitted in Vatileaks trial. Vatican Court declared it has no jurisdiction to try journalists in leaks scandal. ——- Italian journalists Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi are facing up to eight years in jail in Vatican if convicted for publishing books revealing alleged corruption and mismanagement of tens of millions of Vatican funds based on leaked documents. The two journalists called the process “Kafka-esque”. Neither they nor their lawyers had seen the court file detailing the accusations against them hours prior to the trial. Gianluigi Nuzzi spoke for the first time with his Vatican court-appointed lawyer Monday…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Italy (FNSI) and a coalition of civil society organisations in Italy protesting against the new gag law that will hamper the rights of citizens to freedom of information. A press conference will be organised at the FNSI office tomorrow at 11 am, 3 November to launch the online petition ”No Bavaglio 3” (”No to Gag Law” in English). #nobavaglio The new law containing provisions that will impose sanctions and penalities on journalists and media organisations who published wiretapping materials for investigative journalism. Raffaele Lorusso, the General…

Journalists and media workers in Turkey, Hungary and the Balkans are facing increased hostility as they do their jobs, according to a survey of the verified incidents reported to Index on Censorship-EFJ-RSF’s Mapping Media Freedom project. Since May 2014, Mapping Media Freedom project has been documenting media violations throughout the European Union, including candidate and neighbouring countries. The project is an interactive platform that allows the reporting, mapping and monitoring of threats to media freedom. Mapping Media Freedom is run in partnership with the European Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, and is partially funded by the European Commission. The…

A hundred refugees spent the night outside in a park in front of the Refugees Office in Brussels, the “capital of Europe”, on Wednesday. Commenting on these events, many media talked about a “massive influx of refugees in Belgium.” Some simply mentioned a “flood of refugees”. Others stuck to comment on “the problem of hosting refugees.” The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an active member of the Ethical Journalism Network, reminds journalists “shall be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by the media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based on, among other things,…