ita Increasing tensions between the interest of media and politics pose a serious threat for European democracy. An editorial by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), originally published by the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Across Europe, the political understanding of the impact of journalism and the importance of free media for democracy seems to be in decline. When we take a look around, we can only deplore the worsening discrepancy between the media as a fundamental pillar of our democracies and populist politicians increasingly criticizing or even violating media freedoms when they can’t use them as…

Media in many countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region don’t have enough resources and are unable to provide time, money and appropriate level of expertise needed to tell the migration story in context. This is the main finding of a recent study “How does the media on both sides of the Mediterranean report on migration?”, conducted by the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Journalists from 17 countries examined the quality of migration media coverage in 2015/2016 from a national perspective. The study covers nine European countries and eight countries in the…

The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) organised on 2nd of May 2017 a workshop for TGS trade unionists (Journalists Union of Turkey) in Istanbul with Tim Dawson (NUJ President) as the trainer. In the training, the NUJ example in the UK was discussed and TGS branch and national leaders debated various issues including collective bargaining, signing recognition agreements, recruiting members accross all sectors, the impact of social media, producing stress surveys, distributing flyers, proposing legal services and planning activities in the country. Have a look to the video report (activate subtitles in English by pressing on CC) about…

The EFJ was invited to the Prishtina media days organised by the University of Prishtina in cooperation with the University of Vienna and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) on 3-5 May. Under the motto of “Truth and wisdom in journalism. Media and social change”, experts on media and journalism discussed with a large group of  students of journalism the main challenges ahead of us: relationship between journalists and audience; role of media in societies of transition including the public service media and its specific challenges when it comes to financial sustainability and political independence. They also discussed how…

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes,” says the quote by Mark Twain which speakers used as a starting point at the debate on journalism in ‘post-truth’ climate at Difference Day. The event was hosted by the Centre for Fine Art (BOZAR) in Brussels on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), which is celebrated May 3rd every year. One of the five panels on journalism and press freedom talked about the spread of misinformation, which is widely scattered through different platforms and an alarming phenomenon. Experts on the panel emphasized the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join a group of media partners and NGOs to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day in Brussels on May 3 – declared “Difference Day” – at the Centre for Fine Art (BOZAR). Among a series of activities and debates organised throughout the world, BOZAR will host five panels on journalism and press freedom. The EFJ affiliate, the Association of journalists in Macedonia, will participate in the second session “Les Van de Eeuw” to talk about various current themes such as democracy, education, smart cities, World War II, Europe… Programme 9:30 (Terarken): Workshop session…

“There can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of corruption, poverty or fear”… On this Workers’ Day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly encourage journalists to share the motto of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Guaranteeing fair and decent working conditions to journalists is a precondition for media freedom. The study “Journalists under pressure” published on 20th April by the Council of Europe, based on a sample of 940 journalists reporting from 48 countries, shows that journalists in Europe are often exposed to serious pressure in their work, including intimidation and violence. As a consequence, many…

During a press conference today in Skopje (Macedonia), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) called on the Macedonian authorities to investigate the attacks against 10 journalists and media workers, during last night’s storming of the Macedonian parliament building by nationalist demonstrators. At least two journalists were injured in the attack, according to reports from the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM). Dimitar Tanurov, a reporter for the independent online news agency Meta, was taking pictures inside the parliament. He…

UPDATE (03.05.2017): The government withdraw the draft law on criminalisation of defamation.  The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) backs its affiliate, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), in opposing the draft law prepared by the Ministry of Justice aiming to criminalise defamation of the President and Kosovo state symbols. The amendments to Kosovo Criminal Code foresees that anyone who insults or expresses with ill intention contempt for the Republic of Kosovo, for its constitutional order or its anthem, is punishable up to three years of prison. In addition, the defamation of constitutional body, including the President, the Parliament, the…

On Tuesday (25/04/2017) the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) voted in favor of the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The revision acknowledges the emergence of new online platforms and enforces basic rules to better protect minors and combat hate speech. It adapts the definition of video-sharing platforms, applies qualitative advertising and sponsors rules for these platforms. Video sharing platform service is now defined as a service that consists of the storage of a large amount of programmes or user-generated videos. The video sharing platform provider does not have editorial responsibility for them. The revision…

Following ECPMF-EFJ-SEEMO-OBCT fact-finding mission to Macedonia, on 25th-28th April 2017, the four organisations issued this statement today, regarding rising violence against journalists in Macedonia: We hereby express our deep concerns about the yesterday‘s violent attacks against journalists in the parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. From the beginning of 2016 until yesterday at least 21 attacks against journalists in Macedonia have been registered by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM), out of a total of several dozens within the last years. All this clearly demonstrates a rising trend in violence against journalists. The state of media freedom in the…

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) EU Office organised yesterday (26/04/2017) a meeting about media and its role for democracy in Europe. The international experts presented new initiatives for social change and talked about how media can help to build democracy and how to deal with hate speech, racism and lack of diversity in European newsrooms. “The misconception that news should be free is a great danger to democracy. News and journalists who write the news must be paid,” stressed Birgit Sippel, German member of the European Parliament. “If the media only relies on the advertiser’s funds,…

The German affiliates of the European Federation of Journalists, the Deutscher Journalisten-verband (DJV) and Dju in ver.di criticized the adoption of the Network Enforcement Law („Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz”) by the German Federal Cabinet on April 5, 2017, supposed to be adopted by the German Bundestag in the summer. Dju in ver.di issued a statement on April 5: “Even if we strongly reject the use of fake news and hate speech in social networks, in case of doubt, the deletion of such content is not the right response,” said Cornelia Haß, national director of dju in ver.di. “Freedom of expression and diversity of opinions are fundamental to our…

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has today (25/04/2017) voted to re-open the monitoring procedure on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey. The re-opened exceptional procedure was closed in 2004. The adopted resolution notes that “with respect to freedom of the media and of expression, the Assembly is alarmed by the repeated violations of freedom of the media, the large number of journalists currently detained and the pressure exerted on critical journalists, which is unacceptable in a democratic society. Council of Europe member States have a positive obligation to ensure freedom of expression, protection of journalists and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has initiated a call backed by the international community, including the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), to save public service media (PSM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Urgent measures need to be taken to secure adequate and sustainable funding for PSM in BiH. It has been almost a year since the previous model for collecting the licence fee – through telephone bills –  expired. The two telecoms operators in BiH, Bhtelecom and M:tel, have been voluntarily collecting the fee for PSM ever since but this is now under threat and, this month, the amount of funding collected via this…

In many European countries journalists are under pressure, facing a variety of threats from governments, bosses and advertisers. The Council of Europe is marking World Press Freedom Day by underlining its support for independent journalism, free from unwarranted influence whatever the source. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland is publishing his annual report on the state of democracy and human rights in Europe. This year he focuses on several new topics, including the rise of populism and the spreading of fake news. Also published today, a new survey sponsored by the Council of Europe into the prevalence of unwarranted…