The EFJ newsletter, EFJ Focus, is available in English and in German.   EDITORIAL The situation for journalists in Turkey has worsened during this summer and after the coup attempt on July 15. Journalists were targeted during that day. One of them, Mustafa Cambaz, paid the highest prize with his life. After the coup attempt, journalists were detained, media outlets were shut down and fear were spreading. I made contact with Thorbjørn Jagland, the General Secretary of the Council of Europe, to call for an urgent meeting with partners of the Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety…

Bosnian / Türkçe / Shqiptar / Montenegro The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with its affiliate the Association of Professional Journalists in Albania (APJA) have successfully organised on 19/12/2016 in Tirana (Albania) the training of trainers’ workshop for Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG+) in the framework of its Unesco supported project called Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey (#TrustinMediaSEE). Tim Dawson (NUJ President, UK) acted as expert during this event and gave the course based on his long serving experience as trade unionist in the United Kingdom to trainers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro…

The EFJ newsletter, EFJ Focus, is available in English and in German. EDITORIAL As the year comes to an end, we have witnessed many ups and downs in media development. There will be challenges for us in the coming year – fighting for media freedom, quality journalism and better working conditions for journalists. But there are also hopes. Carrying on the positive spirit from this year, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will continue our fight for journalists. Our focus for the coming year will be: Safety for journalists 2016 is a record year for the number of jailed journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today strongly condemned the latest attack on media freedom by Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) to restrict media access parliament. Several thousand people have protested on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Warsaw over the government’s plans to impose restrictions on media coverage of parliament. The rules proposed by the head office of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, will ban all recording of parliamentary sessions. Only five selected Polish TV stations will be allowed to record or broadcast parliamentary sessions. The new rules will also limit the number of journalists allowed…

The Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) organised on 15 December in Strasbourg a high level seminar as a follow-up activity to the CoE Secretary General’s report on the State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe 2015. The EFJ was represented by its president. In his report, the Secretary General of the CoE, Thorbjørn Jagland, proposed a two-year Europe-wide programme to support national mechanisms to protect journalists, such as ombudsman institutions, press commissioners and non-governmental organisations. The programme pursues several goals: to strengthen the capacities of such…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is backing its affiliate, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), to denounce the attack against the journalist Domagoj Margetić, in Zagreb (Croatia) city centre, on 13 December. According to the testimony given by phone to the Croatian Journalists’ Association, Margetić said he was approached by a man. He thought he wanted to ask him something, but the man shouted he would “silence” him, adding “You will never write again”. He went on with threats and started to beat him. Domagoj Margetić is a journalist investigating crime and corruption in Croatia and is editor of „No censorship“ show at TV…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is joining its affiliate, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), to denounce the ban on media to cover the initial hearing of the so-called “Land Fraud” case involving senior politicans and judges. In a press release, AJK expressed its disagreement with the reasoning of the president of this panel, Arcadius Sedek, who justified the ban by the technical nature of the hearing. “We would like to draw attention to the judge that this session is of public interest” one can read in AJK press release. This is the third court case where Kosovo courts decide to ban…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is joining USGI, its Sammarinese affiliate, to denounce the attempt to censor journalists in San Marino. During the year 2016, two civil lawsuits were engaged against journalists associated with USGI, claiming damages following articles considered by the plaintiff as damaging his image. The plaintiff, a lawyer who has a leading position in the banking and financial world of the Republic of San Marino, is claiming 250.000 and 300.000 euros as damages after the publication of articles concerning the case. USGI highlighted in a press release the quality of the journalistic works in question and expressed great concerns…

The Steering Committee of the European Federation of Journalists decided today that the EFJ will hold its 2017 Annual Meeting in Athens, Greece, on 18th and 19th May, 2017. The meeting will be hosted by the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists’ Unions (POESY-PFJU) in the headquarters of the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN). Dimitris Koupias, president of PFJU, said it will be “an opportunity to raise issues about press freedom and journalists’ labour rights in Greece.” Picture credit: Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP.

Number of attacks against journalists has increased in last few years. What causes even more worries is the fact that physical attacks and violence against journalists has increased too. That was pointed out at the opening of two-day conference held in Belgrade on 6th and 7th December 2016 on Media Freedom and Security of Journalists in Western Balkans. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has been invited to take part to the event. The conference was organized by the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (NUNS) as the part of the project Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Security of Journalists…

On 1st December, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) invited the EFJ, digital start-ups and media groups to discuss  “Media adaptation strategies and expectations” together with representatives of the Council of Europe government representatives. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of Research at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism of Oxford University, presented at the outset the results of a recent study on Challenges and opportunities for news media and journalism in an increasingly digital, mobile and social media environment –   prepared for the Council of Europe on this topic. “The move to an…

Two journalists and a local politician were shot dead with a rifle outside a restaurant in the small Finnish town of Imatra at around midnight on Saturday night. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today called on the authorities in Finland to conduct a swift investigation of the killings. The chairwoman of Imatra Town Council and two local reporters were gunned down in a pedestrian area outside a restaurant in the town just before a police patrol car arrived to the scene around midnight Saturday. A 23-year-old local man with a criminal record was detained at the scene, but the motive for the…

The Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Dunja Mijatović, published today her regular report to the Permanent Council from March 2016. She expressed great concerns about the safety of journalists and fake news on social media. Here are some excerpts. On the safety of journalists: As you all know, unfortunately safety of journalists continues to dominate my agenda. Impunity for killings, attacks and threats prevails. This must stop. In order to assist the participating States in monitoring progress on fighting impunity for killings of journalists my Office has prepared a…

The regional meeting of EFJ-IFJ affiliates from the Balkans and Eastern Europe successfully took place in Istanbul on 29-30 November 2016. The meeting was hosted by the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Istanbul office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) who are financially supporting the event with the Swedish Union To Union global trade union programme. The gathering of more than 10 international journalists representatives showing solidarity under the state of emergency with so many journalists in jail (over 120), under prosecution (thousands), without job (over 10.000) was warmly welcomed by the colleagues and local media.   The event has primarily focused on…

On November 28, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), together with the United Nations agencies in Russia and the Centre for gender and media studies of Moscow State University, organised a round table focused on “Russian journalists in UN: Combating gender-based violence”. This event took place in the Moscow Journalist Club and gathered experts, journalists and human rights activists. It followed the International Federation of Journalists action to mark UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls on 25 November. Nadezda Azhgikhina, vice-president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and member of the IFJ Gender council, presented a…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has been invited by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) to attend the 10th edition of the Civil society media seminar held at the Diplomatic Academy on 24-25 November 2016 in Vienna. The seminar gathered over 190 experts (policy makers, journalists, social workers, law enforcement officers, refugees, professors) and was dedicated this year to the topic “Communicating Migration”.  EESC President Georges Dassis said :”Europe’s reconstruction is greatly due to migrants’ contributions. Over the past two years, media have played a big role in our perception of the migration flows. It is thus necessary to mention the benefits…