The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling today (20/07/2015) the EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to raise the case of the Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet during her first visit to Morrocco on July 21 where she will hold meetings with government officials, members of Parliament and civil society. Mrs Mogherini, who is also the vice-president of the EU Commission, will discuss the EU-Morocco partnership and other areas of mutual cooperation related to trade, migration, security and climate change issues. “As the representative voice of European journalists, the EFJ is asking the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs…

In Portugal the EFJ affiliate, the Sindicato dos Jornalistas‘s newly elected board initiated a freelance campaign starting with a survey about the situation of freelance journalists in Portugal, something which had not been conducted since 2001. In Portugal, trade unions still regard freelances as a new and sometimes unaccepted work form. The union had asked its members registered as freelancers (almost 10% of the total membership) to answer an online questionnaire. The main results which were recently discussed within the membership (see picture above), are the following: Age: average age is 41; Gender: 61.3% are men; 38;7% are female Employment…

The UK government is planning to introduce anti-trade union laws that will restrict strikes and hamper the basic human rights of workers, says the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), an EFJ affliate in the UK. According to the NUJ, the proposed bill aimed at curtailing trade union activity would impose a minimum 50% turnout in strike ballots, with public sector unions requiring at least 40% of those eligible to vote. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: “Forget the language of fairness and rights being peddled by the Tories – this is the most cynical of attacks designed to finish what…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) strongly condemn the attack on journalist Sashe Ivanovski by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Vladimir Peshevski, on 15 July. The EFJ demands the Macedonian authorities to bring the attacker to justice. Ivanovski is a journalist working for an online portal. According to media reports, Ivanovski was attacked while he was questioning Mr. Peshevski on a recent wiretapping scandal in Macedonia. The attack was recorded and widely reported in the media in Macedonia. The EFJ says, “Such behaviours towards journalists are utterly unacceptable. Violence against journalists…

The International and European Federation of Journalists has published the second edition of its special bulletin called Set Journalism Free in Turkey. The bulletin details the agenda of the upcoming International Conference on Press Freedom and Labour Rights to be held mid-September in Istanbul, a summary of actions run by our affiliate TGS and the latest news about the international campaign on Set Journalism Free in Turkey. See the special edition HERE More information is available on our campaign page

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to assess current EU law on audiovisual media (Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU – AVMSD) to check if the current legislation is up-to-date for media in the digital era. According to the Commission’s communications, the consultation focuses on the following key topics: providing rules to shape technological developments creating a level playing field for emerging audiovisual media preserving cultural diversity protecting children and consumers safeguarding media pluralism combating racial and religious hatred guaranteeing the independence of national media regulators. During the review, stakeholders will be asked how effective the current law in…

As the media industry grows more freelances, so the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland is trying to ascertain how to attract freelances into membership. The main question is: What services and benefits could the union offer to freelances that are not covered in our ’10 Reasons’ leaflet ? As everyone agrees, the priority for freelances in the current climate is to find work – work that pays! One of our members has suggested a Freelance Salon, an event with speakers who will discuss how to go beyond the traditional pitch to editors and navigate new…

The European Parliament’s initiative report  to make proposal to reform EU copyright/authors’ rights law fails to improve the contractual position of authors and performers. The report adopted in the plenary session yesterday in Strasbourg was drafted by German Eurodeputy Julia Reda and is the result of months of lobbying and heated debates in the hemicycle. The adopted text makes a number of proposals to amend authors’ rights legislation in the EU as a contribution to the European Commission’s upcoming revision package on authors’ rights to be issued by the end of 2015. While the adopted text makes a specific call…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today expresses its sadness and condolences for the loss of a great colleague, Mr. Santo Della Volpe, President of the Journalists’ Union of Italy (FNSI – Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana) who passed away early this morning at the age of 60. Della Volpe was elected as the President of the FNSI this January at its national Congress in Chianciano. He was a well-known TV journalist for the public channel of RAI, TG3. Della Volpe was also the founding member and Vice-President of the press freedom organisation “Article 21” in Italy. Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ…

Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS, EFJ-IFJ affiliate) and the Professional Association of Journalists of Serbia (PROUNS) held today (08/07/2015) an indignation rally outside the building of the Serbian Constitutional Court. SINOS members demanded the Constitutional Court to take into consideration the initiative for assessing the constitutionality of the new law on public information submitted by several media associations almost a year ago. According to SINOS, the new law could hamper the transparency of media ownership resulting in some tycoons and political parties owning most of the media. In August 2014, the Serbian Parliament adopted a new package of media legislation (Law on…

Plenary session of the European Parliament on 9 July 2015 We will not limit #FreedomofPanorama. People can take pictures of whatever they see in public places #EPlenary #copyright @Senficon — Günther H. Oettinger (@GOettingerEU) July 9, 2015     The European Parliament is likely to adopt an initiative report that could potentially hamper the right of press photographers to take photographs in public spaces, the International and the European Federation of journalists have warned. The report, drafted by the German Eurodeputy Julia Reda, makes a number of proposals to amend authors’ rights legislation in the EU as a contribution to…

Send your solidarity message to the AFP staff on strike in the comment box below. Strike continues at AFP France against termination of collective agreements (c)P.Kamenka http://t.co/MQqMzEYvmFpic.twitter.com/50JOckydIk — EFJ (@EFJEUROPE) July 8, 2015     The International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists have today called on Mr Emmanuel Hoog, CEO of Agence France Press (AFP), one of the world’s major news agencies, to revoke the company’s decision to terminate 117 collective agreements and business agreements. The social model that has been put in place for decades at the AFP provides the protection necessary for journalists and…

A study led by the Belgian association of professional journalists (AJP, EFJ affiliate) on diversity and equality shows that women make less than 18% of people interviewed in French speaking dailies, which is 5 times less than men. The new figures show no progress in this field since the last survey conducted in 2011 by AJP and are below the world average of 24% across all media. Women are rarely quoted in information related to sports (7%), politics (18%), environment (16%) or in news analysis. The study also shows that women have greater presence in areas such as education (37%), health and well-being…

The EFJ affiliate in Sweden, Svenska Journalistförbundet, has announced the signature of a new collective agreement with Almega Medieföretagen covering all freelance journalists and media workers. “This agreement is an important step forward to strengthen the position of freelance journalists in Sweden,” said Jonas Nordling, President of the Swedish union of journalists. EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, quickly congratulated the Swedish colleagues for what he qualified as an “impressive collective agreement for all freelancers”. Impressive agreement for all #freelance in @journalistforb Sweden https://t.co/W0oeVecdnR @EFJEUROPE #TradeUnion — Mogens B. Bjerregård (@mogensbb) July 1, 2015 It is important to note that the agreement covers all freelance…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today expressed deep concerns about the violence used against journalists and media workers covering labour issues in Turkey. “International standards like freedom of association, right to collective bargaining and right to strike must be respected by all parties and journalists who are playing a key role to assess the effectiveness of those rights should be totally free to do their job”, said EFJ-IFJ. According to media reports and local trade unionists, journalists and freelance media workers reporting on labour issues for the daily Evrensel Gazetesi and the…

Journalists and photographers will face a new wave of restrictions on their work as the Spanish government enacted the controversial public security law (also known as gag law or “Ley Mordaza” in Spanish) on 1 July, warned the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), who have joined their Spanish affiliates FAPE, FeSP, FSC-CC.OO. and ELA-Gizalan in calling for repeal of the law.  The Public Security Law makes a criminal offence “any unauthorised use of images or personal as well as professional data concerning police officers which may put at risk the safety of the…