Today is the World Day for Decent Work! A new survey from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) shows that unions have helped winning higher pay, saving jobs and securing new collective agreements over the past twelve months. The survey of 60 IFJ affiliates from every continent – released to coincide with World Day for Decent Work – shows that attacks on collective bargaining, low pay and a lack of rights for freelances are threatening to further undermine working conditions for journalists across the globe. A significant majority of unions surveyed highlighted a lack of collective bargaining, a lack of…

UPDATE (31/10/2017) – On 30 October 2017, 64 senators from the ruling coalition (PSD-ALDE) voted the controversial draft law (16 senators voted against and 27 senators abstained). Alexandru Giboi, AGERPRES General Director, wrote in a press statement that the Romanian minister of Culture “Lucian Romascanu is preparing the dissolution of AGERPRES as an independent press agency”. ————————— The Romanian trade union of journalists MediaSind expressed its concerns about the new draft law intended to regulate the national news agency AGERPRES, to be discussed on 11 October 2017 by the Romanian Parliament. The new law foresees that any political majority could decide to dismiss…

The Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) in partnership with the European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) successfully organised a 2-day Safety Workshop in Diyarbakir (Southeast of Turkey) on 03-04 October 2017 for local and visiting journalists regularly covering conflict zones in the region. This workshop was organised in the framework of the IFJ-EFJ-TGS project called #GazetecilikSuçDegildir / #JournalismisNOTaCrime, a campaign to set journalism free, develop trade union rights and defend freedom of expression in Turkey which receives the financial support of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) Program managed by the European Commission. 30 journalists and media workers…

Several journalists working in Hungary for foreign media outlets alerted the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) about the harassment they have been subjected to. The EFJ condemns those attacks and calls on the Hungarian authorities to stop harassing the journalists in question. “Propagandists”, “spokespeople”, “drug addict”: this is the kind of verbal attacks journalists reporting on Hungary’s campaign against George Soros have received, directly from the government or some pro-governmental media outlets. The EFJ recently submitted the following two cases on the Council of Europe platform for the safety of journalists. The Website 888.hu Publishes a List of Eight Journalists Described as…

Ordering a journalist to give evidence on a source is not justified, even though the source himself has come forward to the police. That’s the main outcome of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights, today, regarding the case launched in 2012 by Norwegian journalist Cecilie Langum Becker, who was ordered to give evidence on her contacts with her source for an article about the Norwegian Oil Company, and fears that it might collapse. The European Court recalled that a journalist’s protection could not automatically be removed because of a source’s conduct. Bearing in mind its previous judgments emphasising the chilling…

The lack of protection of journalists’ authors rights in Spain undermines their living standards and journalism ethics. A delegation of the IFJ/EFJ authors’ rights expert group (AREG) members met in Madrid on 2-3 October in solidarity with Spanish affiliates (FES-CC.OO, FESP, FAPE, ELA) to develop a strategy to change Spanish intellectual property law for a better protection of journalists’ rights. The print sector was specifically targeted. To date, Spanish publications are considered as collective works and journalists cannot claim any recognition for their authors’ rights, either from a moral rights’ (right to integrity and paternity) or an economic rights’ (remuneration…

International Federation of Journalists affiliates from all over the world have backed colleagues from the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN) who began a 24-hour general strike at 6pm today. Unions from South Africa, Australia and the US today sent solidarity messages to Greek colleagues, who are fighting to protect a Fund – Unified Journalistic Organisation of Subsidiary Social Insurance and Health Care (EDOEAP) – which for over 50 years has provided social security and welfare payments for journalists and media workers in Greece. “We the workers in news information are going on strike demanding a new ‘Charter’ for…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have today renewed calls for the release of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko on the anniversary of his arrest by Russian authorities on spying charges. The IFJ/EFJ backed the demand of their affiliates, The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU) and Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) for his immediate release and the condemnation of the charges against him. Working for Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform for 14 years, Sushchenko had been the agency’s correspondent in France since 2010. He was arrested on 30 September last year…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Commissioner Jourova’s decision not to initiate  EU-wide legislation to fine internet companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Microsoft, for failing to take down hate speech. “We would like to see the laws we have in place offline enforced also online”, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said on Thursday 28 September during a press conference. Instead, the Commission proposes a guidance to internet companies about how they improve their record by complying with a voluntary code of conduct created last year and so far adopted by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “Our key challenge now will…

Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS, EFJ-IFJ affiliate) announced today (29/09/2017) the signature of a new collective agreement for journalists and media workers employed by 9 Eylül daily newspaper in Izmir (Turkey). The collective agreement include an increase in salary (+100 TL) for all the workers employed by the newspaper during the first year and a second increase (+250 TL) for the upcoming years. The staff will also receive a bonus (+500 TL) twice a year as a gift, an additional bonus (+500 TL) to cover crèche fees for workers under aged children, an exceptional gift (+1500 TL) for workers getting married,…

Update (28.09.2017) – Hamza Yalçin has been released on 28/09/2017 by decision of Spain National High Court. “We are very pleased for our colleague, whose release we have been requesting since August 3rd,” said EFJ GS Ricardo Gutiérrez. “The Spanish Government has now to clarify that there is no basis to extradite Hamza Yalçin. There was simply no reason to arrest him: Interpol did not require his arrest.” Margot Wallström, Swedish minister for Foreign Affairs, said “I welcome the Spanish decision not to hand out Hamza Yalcin to Turkey. Hamza Yalcin is now free to travel and can return his family.Sweden…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the conviction of Ukrainian journalist Mykola Semena by a Crimean court today. The court found him guilty on a charge of separatism and handed him a 2,5 year suspended sentence. He was also barred from “public activities”, including journalism, for three years. On 19 April 2016, FSB agents in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea raided the house of journalist Mykola Semena, freelancer with Krym.Realii (Criemea Realities) – RFE/RL’s Crimea service. They confiscated his reporting equipment, and briefly detained him for interrogation in connection to a criminal probe on charges of making calls to…

Serbian weekly Vranjske novine will cease publishing, announced founder and editor-in-chief Vukasin Obradovic on 18 September. The paper claims it has been subject to intense political and economic pressures, including financial inspections allegedly aimed at compromising its finances. As a sign of protest, Obradovic had gone on hunger strike for a couple of days. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) stand in solidarity with Vukasin Obradovic and join their affiliates in Serbia in denouncing the oppression many media and journalists are currently experiencing in the country. According to the Independent Journalists’ Association (NUNS), Vranjske novine has been subjected to political and economic…

On 19 September 2017, the European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) have submitted the following case on the Council of Europe platform for the protection of journalism: On 2 September 2017, members of the far-right Autochthonous Croatian Party of Right (A-HSP) gathered in front of weekly Novosti’s office in central Zagreb and burned a copy of the magazine, which is published by the Serb National Council in Croatia. According to the Western Balkans Regional Platform for Advocacy of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety, A-HSP accused Novosti journalists of spreading hate against Croatians and called on the Croatian government to…

On 4 September 2017, journalists and media workers working for the Serbian Subotica Magločistač news portal received explicit death threats because of an article entitled “We are all Gosa workers, and all the rulers are Labans” (Svi smo mi radnici Goše, a vladari Labani). Following the publication of this article, the team of journalists were threatened with harsh words in the comments section. The article referred to the death threats made by Bogdan Laban, the mayor of Subotica, directed against one of his party colleagues, Magločistač news portal reported about that event. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns the death threats…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the decision of Baltasar Garzón, a former member of Spain’s National High Court (Audiencia Nacional) to take a pro bono defense of the Swedish-Turkish journalist Hamza Yalçin currently detained in Barcelona and pending extradition by an Interpol order issued by Turkey. The International Baltasar Garzón Foundation (Fibgar) represents Hamza Yalçin through the ILOCAD law firm, runned by the magistrate, who considers that the detention violates the journalist’s rights. Hamza Yalçin, 59, a journalist citizen of Sweden, is being held in custody in Spain after being arrested on 3 August at the Barcelona airport in compliance with an…