Registration opens for the upcoming MediaRoad event Robot “journalism” is already the reality in many newsrooms churning out content faster than we can consume. News organisations are increasingly experimenting with robot journalism using computer programmes to analyse data and produce news stories because robots are more productive. But how much do we know about these robots behind the news? Are they friends or foes of journalists? Should journalists be afraid or take advantage of the technology to improve their working conditions and quality of journalism? This workshop will focus on these questions and explore the pros and cons of robot…

A delegation of the Western Balkans’ Regional Platform project for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety visited Brussels on March 21st and 22nd and held meetings and consultations with the members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission from the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement negotiations (DG NEAR). Representatives of journalists’ associations and a trade union from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia presented the journalists’ safety and the media situation in their countries. They emphasised joint problems their members and other journalists face, including poor working conditions, fear for personal safety due to work,…

The Italian public television RAI, Rai Journalists Trade Union (Usigrai) and the Italian EFJ affiliate, FNSI (Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana), signed a new collective agreement to extend the national labour contract to journalists working in public media. For the first time, the agreement includes an ethical commitment to combat hate speech, discrimination and racism, as well as a commitment to promote gender equality and the rights of minors. This 2018-2022 agreement, signed on the 13th of March, aims to reverse the trend among media organisations to use right-grabbing contracts and provide unfair remuneration to journalists. It will include: a reduction…

The Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL) signed an unprecedented  framework agreement for freelance journalists with the Norwegian affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists, the Norwegian Union of Journalists (NJ), concerning purchase, sale and copyrights of freelance materials on Wednesday, 21 March 2018.  The NJ had been in negotiations with the MBL to establish this framework agreement since April 2016. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure predictable frameworks for freelance jobs. The framework agreement will take effect on 1 April 2018. It requires an individual agreement to be concluded between the freelancer and the employer. The NJ and the MBL will prepare templates for  agreements which…

“Cumhuriyet, as one of the most important daily newspaper in Turkey, is playing a great inspirational role for all journalists in the world and by putting your own life at risk to tell the truth in the country, you attract more respect and become an example for many of our colleagues and we would like to thank you for that”, said Oliver Money-Kyrle, IFJ Assistant General Secretary during a joint solidarity visit in Istanbul to the former imprisoned journalist Murat Sabuncu (editor in chief of Cumhuriyet). The joint delegation for the solidarity visit included representatives from the International Federation of Journalists…

36 journalists, union leaders and media experts from 20 European countries discussed issues around new business models and trends in (digital) journalism from 15-16 March 2018 in Nuremberg, Germany. With great enthusiasm participants explored recent trends in journalism,  successful new models in financing journalism and the role of unions and associations to best serve their members in this process of change. The first panel “What is trending in journalism” included academics, publishers and an editor in chief from a local newspaper, all giving interesting insights in changes in the media eco-system,  its impact on the work of journalists, use of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) co-signed an open letter by seven international freedom of expression organisations on 23 March 2018, urging diplomats in Malta to make their presence felt concerning the investigation of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder. “Your engagement in this case is setting a standard and precedent for what is permissible in the European Union”: We, the undersigning international organisations are closely monitoring the investigation of the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the related court proceedings in Malta. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a journalist, a blogger, a mother of three. For years, she reported…

Turkey should immediately implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and release the veteran journalists Mehmet Altan and Şahin Alpay without delay, a coalition of nongovernmental groups said today. Furthermore, Turkey must ensure that domestic remedies for human rights violations are effective, in particular by ensuring the urgent review of all cases of journalists and writers currently pending before its Constitutional Court. The organizations, which had intervened as third parties in the cases before the court, included PEN International, ARTICLE 19, Committee to Protect Journalists, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, European Federation of Journalists,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on Turkish authorities to release without any delay all journalists wrongfully imprisoned in Turkey after the European Court of Human Rights ruled today against Turkey on applications filed on behalf of Turkish journalists Şahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan, who were imprisoned following the failed coup attempt in July 2016. The Strasbourg court issued today a decision on the provisional detention of Mehmet Altan and Şahin Alpay for more than a year and a half. The decision stated that “the investigating authorities had been unable to demonstrate any factual basis” that indicate that both journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), representing 320.000 journalists across Europe, is shocked to learn that the Danish government intends to cut 20 percent of funding for Danish public service media (DR). The EFJ urges the government in Denmark to withdraw its proposal. The Danish government has agreed on a new media agreement that is expected to come into effect on January 1, 2019. The new measures include a cut in DR’s budget of 20%. It will also scrap the licence fee for public broadcasting. The measures were taken by the VLAK government with the support of the Dansk Folkeparti party. Free and…

A fund of up to €450,000 to support cross-border investigative journalism in the European Union is being launched today by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and the International Press Institute (IPI). The Investigative Journalism for Europe (#IJ4EU) fund is intended to foster and strengthen collaboration among European Union-based journalists and newsrooms on revelations in the public interest and of cross-border significance. The fund aims to support investigations that reflect the media’s watchdog role and that assist the public in holding those in power accountable for their actions and to their obligations. In so doing, it seeks…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) congratulates Dragan Bursać for receiving the European Press Prize 2018 on 15 March 2018 in the category ‘Opinion’ for his column “The Third Shooting of the Boy Petar from Konjic”, in Budapest, Hungary. Bursać works as a columnist for Al Jazeera Balkans. He lives in Banja Luka, a Bosnian city dominated by a Serbian population. Bursać became known for his critical writing about nationalism. The story for which he was awarded describes the tragic fate of the seven-year-old Bosnian Serb boy Petar who was killed during the Bosnian War. Because of his journalistic work, Bursać received multiple threats,…

In a statement published today the International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) voice their concerns over the exclusion of journalists’ interests in the ongoing EU debate over a neighbouring right on press publications. These organisations, representing over 300,000 journalists throughout Europe, cannot support the proposal in this form. A European Commission proposal for an EU directive on copyright in the digital single market is currently being discussed in the European Parliament and EU member states. One of the most controversial issues in this text is the introduction of a so-called neighbouring right for press publishers over…

On behalf of the International and the European Federation of Journalists, we would like to raise our concerns over the ongoing EU debate on the neighbouring right. We are witnessing this debate with great concern. as the current Directive proposal on copyright in the digital single market seems to be evolving toward complete exclusion of journalists’ interests in the exercise of this right. Journalists enjoy authors’ rights protection over the work that they create. This means that they should receive remuneration for each exploitation of their work and benefit from full respect of their moral rights. How can journalists expect…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 61 civil society organisations on 13 March 2018 in a letter to the European Parliament calling for stronger safeguards for journalists and citizens who exercise their right of access to information in the wake of murdered Slovakian journalist Ján Kuciak. The statement was sent to all 751 Members of the European Parliament in preparation of a plenary debate on “Protection of investigative journalists in Europe: the case of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová” in Strasbourg on 14 March 2018. The letter underlines the importance of the right to access to information in fighting…

Together with 38 experts, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) participated in a EU High-level Expert Group (HLEG) set up by the European Commission, since January 2018, in order to tackle the phenomenon of so-called “fake news” and disinformation. The final report of this group has been published today in Brussels by the EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel. The EFJ welcomes the final report despite some doubts on some specific proposals. The report clearly indicates that the real threat is disinformation, not “fake news”. Disinformation is defined as “false, inaccurate, or misleading information designed, presented and promoted to intentionally…