On World Press Freedom Day, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) stand in solidarity with journalists and media workers everywhere and reaffirm our commitment to defending press freedom across Europe. Across Europe, journalists and media workers are regularly stopped from doing their job. Among EU Member States and candidate countries alone, over 1,000 media freedom violations have been documented on Mapping Media Freedom Platform. Belarus has one of the most oppressive media climates in the world. The most recent figures report 36 media professionals in Belarus are behind bars. The crucial role of…

To mark World Press Freedom Day – the theme of which this year is “Journalism in the face of the environmental crisis” – the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) pays tribute to the local journalists who play a unique role in providing critical information to the public on environmental issues, and connecting local stories to the broader climate crisis.  “On World Press Freedom Day, we emphasise that an atmosphere of security and respect must be built to allow media professionals to report accurately on the climate crisis. We need to ensure that journalists reporting on environmental and climate stories can…

On World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2024, the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) stand in solidarity with media workers everywhere and draw attention to the deteriorating press freedom situation in Europe. Since WPFD 2023, the MFRR partners have documented more than 1,000 media freedom violations affecting over 1,500 journalists or media entities in European Union Member States and candidate countries. As the year progressed, the MFRR witnessed physical attacks, harassment online and offline, the continued use of vexatious lawsuits to stifle critical reporting, further pressure on sustainable revenue streams for independent media, government attempts to muzzle public media, and tragically…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners to express concerns over the terrorism investigation by the Spanish authorities of journalist Jesús Rodríguez Sellés. The journalist left Spain for Switzerland citing a lack of guarantees for practicing his profession and the threat of arbitrary arrest in Spain. The investigation, lasting for four years after the alleged crime, coincides with negotiations over the amnesty law for pro-independence leaders. Fearing politicization of the case, the Media Freedom Rapid Response partners call for a review of the investigations’ circumstances, allowing Rodríguez Sellés to continue his journalism freely.…

On Labour Day 2024, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling on a broad alliance of civil society – readers and listeners, journalists’ organisations and associations, academics, and media freedom NGOs – to stand up for journalism and convince employers and decision makers that the protection of journalists and journalism is essential to democracy. “Europe’s information ecosystem is at a crossroads. Misinformation and filter bubbles, oligarchic media capture and unprecedented attacks on journalists amid their subjection to precarious working conditions — all are leading to a brain drain from the industry. This could have a devastating impact on the…

This International Workers’ Day, all eyes are on Europe. As we celebrate the bonds of friendship between workers and the collective power we have through our trade unions and associations, we also look ahead to the EU elections. At a time when journalists and media workers are coming under increasing pressure and becoming more and more precarious, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in calling on workers to mobilise, at the ballot box, against political forces hostile to freedom and labour rights. As specified in the Council of Europe Recommendation on the protection…

Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin are the latest journalists to be arrested in Russia for “extremism” following their alleged work with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Both journalists have worked for international media, such as Reuters for Gabov and Deutsche Welle and Associated Press for Karelin. While denied the charges, they will face up to six years in prison if convicted. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) demand the immediate release of the journalists and reiterate the condemnation of the Russian authorities’ continued crackdown on independent journalists. On 27 March 2024, Sergei Karelin, who has dual Russian and Israeli citizenship,…

Journalist Sergei Mingazov from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine was charged with spreading “false” information about Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine, on 26 April 2024. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounces the accusations against Mingazov, a member of the Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), an EFJ affiliate, and once again condemns the continued crackdown on independent journalists by the Russian authorities. A court in Khabarovsk today placed Mingazov under house arrest for two months for “reposting about the events in Bucha” on the Telegram channel Khabarovsk Mingazeta. Bucha is the Kyiv suburb where Russian troops have been accused…

On 25 April, the Ankara public prosecutor’s office requested the conviction of 11 journalists from the Mesopotamya News Agency (MA) for alleged ‘membership in a terrorist organisation’. The case comes just as the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (GCD) is publishing its annual report on press freedom in Turkey. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), present in Ankara, joins its Turkish affiliates GCD, TGS and DISK Basin-Is in denouncing the intensification of pressure on journalists by the Turkish government. The EFJ condemns this climate of terror aimed at imposing widespread self-censorship. The 2023 report published by GCD, as part of the European ‘Media…

On the night of 22-23 April 2024, the Belgian federal police searched the premises of the building of the Kurdish television channels Stêrk TV and Medya Haber (Medya News) in Denderleeuw, Flanders. The police operation was conducted as part of a European Investigation Order (EPO) on terrorist financing. The news channels reported serious material damage and equipment seizure. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Belgian affiliate, the Flemish Association of Journalists (VVJ), in strongly condemning the show of force that accompanied the search and urged authorities to guarantee that the confidentiality of journalists’ sources is respected. The search…

The 2023 Report on the state of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Serbia was published on 15 March 2024, assessing the pressure experienced by media professionals in the country. Entitled “Behind the headlines: Threats, attacks and pressure on journalists in Serbia”, the research was conducted in collaboration with the Journalists Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS), with the support of the European Union and Council of Europe, based on a survey of 130 journalists and media workers. The report presents the major challenges to the safety of Serbian journalists by examining…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium partners criticise the criminal defamation lawsuit filed by Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov against investigative journalists Atanas Chobanov and Dimitar Stoyanov of the Bureau for Investigative Reporting and Data (BIRD). The undersigned organisations believe that the lawsuit is designed to silence legitimate investigative reporting and should be immediately withdrawn. The legal action stems from the journalists’ reporting on a property deal that allegedly connected the current Minister of Interior to Martin Bozhanov, an individual known as ‘the Notary’, who was murdered earlier this year following extensive allegations of corruption against him. Kalin Stoyanov has denied…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched its new project “Stand Up for Journalism (SUJ)” in Brussels, on 22 April 2024. The kick-off meeting was attended by representatives of journalists unions and associations from Denmark, France, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, the project partners, and affiliated entities European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Eurocadres.  The project is led by the EFJ and will be financially supporting six partners, journalists’ unions and associations in the EU and candidate countries: NUNS (Serbia), TUMM (Montenegro), DJ (Denmark), TGS (Turkey), SNJ-CGT (France), all of them being EFJ members. Stand Up for Journalism is an EU-funded project with…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) reiterates its solidarity with Domani newspaper subjected to constant attacks as well as with its journalists Giovanni Tizian, Nello Trocchia, and Stefano Vergine. They are under investigation for complicity in a concerted action with a public official regarding unauthorised access to documents and for revealing secrets through the publication of information contained in those documents. They face up to 9 years in prison. We believe that the decision by the Perugia prosecutor’s office to prosecute the journalists is an attempt to identify their sources. The following call for support was signed by more than…

Most journalists use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to improve their work and manage their workload. Okraj.cz, a group of three passionate, young journalists from Ostrava, Czech Republic, are no exception. Thanks to funding and mentorship from the Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) project, the media startup developed its own code of conduct for  AI to generate illustrations for their articles, but within reason. The three journalists come from different journalistic backgrounds. Jan Žabka worked in Prague looking into disinformation and digital chaos, Simona Janikova has experience in a range of topics, including local businesses, human stories and environment, and Klara…

25 April 2024 12:00 CET REGISTER HERE On April 25, 2024, the Media Freedom Rapid Response will host a webinar addressing the recent decline in press freedom in Georgia. This decline has been exacerbated by the reintroduction of a Russia-style foreign agent law earlier this month. The new law, titled ‘Transparency of Foreign Influence’ requires independent media and civil society organisations that receive funding from abroad to label themselves as “organisations pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” Since then, journalists from online media were barred from the parliament when the law was being debated and on April 16, 2024, reporters from online media…