Anna Prokofieva, a Russian war correspondent for the state-controlled Channel One, was killed and her cameraman Dmitry Volkov was seriously wounded by a landmine explosion on 26 March in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemn the killing and call for a swift investigation that clarifies the circumstances of the journalist’s death. Prokofieva had been covering the war in Ukraine for state-controlled Channel One since 2023. Channel One’s cameraman Dmitry Volkov, who was injured in the mine explosion, was transferred to a hospital in the Kursk region. This incident follows the killing of three Russian…

On 24 March, Russian state-controlled newspaper Izvestia’s correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was killed in a rocket attack in Ukraine, along with state-controlled Zvezda TV cameraman Andrei Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EF) call for an investigation into the attack and demand warring parties respect media workers and protect them, especially in conflict zones. The air strike hit the media workers’ car in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region under Russian occupation, where they were covering the news. Three other civilians were also reported killed in the strike. Zvezda correspondent Nikita Goldin was reported to be in critical…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), along with 49 organisations working to support and develop democracy, welcomed the European Commission’s initiative to create a European Democracy Shield as a coordinated effort to support democracy in and around Europe. This initiative is particularly relevant in the current context of global democratic backsliding. With its focus on the information space, election integrity, and civic engagement, the European Democracy Shield  is a natural successor to the European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP). EDAP introduced key instruments like the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the Anti-SLAPP Directive, a revamped Code of Practice on Disinformation, and…

From 31 March to 1 April 2025, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be hosting a workshop entitled “Online Harassment and Protection of Journalists” in Belgrade, Serbia, as part of the Stand up for Journalism (SUJ) project in partnership with the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS). The workshop will focus on the growing issue of digital threats against journalists and explore strategies to strengthen their protection. It will feature insightful speakers from across Europe, including journalists, media professionals, and safety experts. This workshop is the third in a series of five thematic capacity-building workshops. The first workshop was…

Update (23/03/2025): On Tuesday afternoon, the Turkish courts ordered the arrest of seven of the journalists detained in recent days: Yasin Akgül (AFP), Ali Onur Tosun (Now TV News), Bülent Kılıç (freelance), Zeynep Kuray, Kurtuluş Arı (İBB), Hayri Tunç, Gökhan Kam. —————————– At least eleven journalists were detained in dawn raids in different cities by Turkish police on 24 March 2025. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliates in Turkey, TGS, TGC, GCD and DİSK Basın-İş in calling for their immediate release and condemning a new crackdown on journalism. Journalists were detained at 6.00am during a…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (CEATL) and the European Writers’ Council (EWC) in expressing strong opposition to the third Draft of the EU’s Code of Practice for the AI Act’s implementation. On 21 March 2025, the three organisations representing European journalists, translators and writers sent a joint letter to Henna Virkkunen (Executive Vice-president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, security and democracy) and the EU AI Board to denounce the Code’s orientation, considered as ‘simplified’, ‘toxic’ and ‘industry-friendly’. This letter follows on from another sent last February already criticising the…

At a time when the Turkish authorities have unleashed a new wave of repression, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Turkish affiliates TGS, GCD and DİSK Basın-İş are demanding the immediate release of journalist Ismail Saymaz, who has been detained early Wednesday morning as part of an investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into the Gezi Park protests. On Wednesday, Turkish police have arrested the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu (CHP), the primary challenger to the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in dawn raids that also ensnared 100 politicians, business people and municipal officials accused of corruption…

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a recent speech, compared critics including journalists to insects that will be eliminated. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliates in Hungary, HPU and MÚOSZ, in demanding an apology from Mr Orbán in the context of a new crackdown on journalists and journalism. On 15 March, during a political rally in Budapest, the Prime Minister accused journalists of serving the interests of foreign powers and compared them and other groups to insects who would soon be eradicated. He told several thousand supporters that in the coming weeks the government would “dismantle the financial machine…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned NGOs and journalism organisations in reaffirming our support for press freedom and a free media that is able to operate without coercion by, or interference from, government – and call on the United States to protect all reporters and media workers employed by the U.S. Agency for Global  Media (USAGM), many of whom face significant personal risk in reporting on and from highly repressive regimes.  For more than 80 years, USAGM entities, which include Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), have played a vital role in reaching…

News reporting on the nightclub fire in Kočani, in the eastern part of North Macedonia, which claimed the lives of at least 59 people on 16 March, must be in line with the IFJ’s Global Charter of Ethics. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), in calling on journalists to stick to professional principles when covering the tragedy, including reporting accurately according to the facts, avoiding sensationalism and respecting the privacy of those affected by the tragedy.…

A groundbreaking collective agreement was signed by the French unions to set social and pay standards for online journalism. Until now, the industry had no such framework since the creation of the internet. After two years of negotiations, the three unions Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ), the SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes and the Syndicat de la presse indépendante d’information en ligne (Spiil) have secured long-overdue protections for media workers in digital journalism.  This agreement, reached during the ‘Assises internationales du journalisme’ in Tours on 13 March, introduces the first structured classification system and salary scale for Spiil members. Spiil represents 270 publishers,…

EFJ President Maja Sever was invited to the Coordination meeting on combatting anti-Muslim hatred/racism organised by the European Commission in Brussels on 14 March 2025. Journalists, researchers and associations working in the media sector discussed challenges related to anti-Muslim hatred/racism in media and shared good practices. We are republishing here in full the speech given by Maja Sever on this occasion. Do you know who Toni Buzov was? He was a man who could not remain silent. Our colleague, journalist Boris Dežulović, wrote an article about him in a local newspaper, and Nebojša Slijepčević directed a thirteen-minute film that won…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG) expressed in an open letter its deep concerns about the alarming situation in which the Radio-Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) currently finds itself. The public service media, crucial for informing citizens and preserving media pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have long been facing serious financial difficulties that threaten its survival and daily operation, as well as violate employees’ labour rights. With this letter, the EFJ urges the BiH institutions to take immediate action to ensure the stable funding and functioning of BHRT by: Ensuring a regular and…

The members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium and partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform are deeply concerned about the ongoing year-long persecution campaign against journalist Dinko Gruhonjić, programme Director of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Associate Professor at the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. Fifteen attacks against Dinko Gruhonjić have been documented on the MFRR platform since 14 March 2024, when a manipulated video was released falsely portraying him as a political opponent. The majority of these attacks (80%) were threatening…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Safe Journalists Network (SJN) and the undersigned media freedom and civil society organisations in expressing serious concern regarding the Albanian Council of Ministers’ decision on March 6, 2025, to suspend nationwide access to the TikTok platform for 12 months. While we acknowledge the government’s stated intention to protect children from harmful content and safeguard personal data, we strongly underline that such protective measures must fully respect fundamental human rights, particularly freedom of expression, access to information, and due process. Freedom of Expression and Proportionality We emphasize that a total platform ban represents an…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned press freedom, journalists, and freedom of expression organisations in expressing deep concern over the new wave of repressive legislation, increasing threats to journalists’ safety, and the broader decline of media freedom in Georgia. We urge the international community, especially the European Union (EU), to address the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and support Georgia’s embattled independent media sector. On 24 February 2025, the Georgian Dream ruling party and its satellite party People’s Power introduced amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, strengthening the censorship powers of the broadcast regulator and restricting “foreign powers” from funding broadcasters…