EUObserver – Poland passes media law, ignores EU again (31.12.2015) Sputnik – Poland on EU Collision Course Over New Media Reforms (31.12.2015) Prague Post – Pending Polish media law draws criticism (31.12.2015) AFP – Polish government takes control of public media with new law (30.12.2015) Time – A Media Bill in Poland Sparks Concern Over Press Freedom (30.12.2015) Deutsche Welle – Polish government moves to control public media (30.12.2015) Broadband TV News – EBU “outraged” as Poland amends law (30.12.2015) BBC – Polish media bill triggers concern for freedom (30.12.2015) Politico – 2015, an awful year for Europe’s free media (30.12.2015) L’Humanité – C’est la liberté de la presse qu’Erdogan…

BGN News – EJF’s top story: London’s protest against Turkish media oppression (20.12.2014) World Socialist Web Site – Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa (19.12.2014) Cihan – Makedonya Gazeteciler Derneği’nden Zaman ve Samanyolu’na destek (19.12.2014) Today’s Zaman – Turkish intellectuals launch campaign for release of detained journalists (18.12.2014) Zaman – EFJ: Gazeteciler serbest bırakılmalı (17.12.2014) Bugün – Özgür medyaya darbe operayonuna dünyadan tepkiler çığ gibi (17.12.2014) EU Observer – EU says Turkish media crackdown will harm relations (15.12.2014) Today’s Zaman – Int’l advocacy groups rally behind detained journalists (15.12.2014) €U Bulletin – EU Slams Turkish Media Crackdown (15.12.2014) Radio France Internationale (RFI) – Le coup anti-Gülen, une illustration de l’état de la presse…

Businessregard.ru – Почему закрывают РИА Новости (12.12.2013) Focus Vif – Focus Brolcast #6: Se détacher de l’écume et du buzz avec Ricardo Gutiérrez (FEJ) (06.12.2013) ITProPortal – European journalists slam plans to curb press freedom (04.12.2013) Hurriyet Daily News – European Federation of Journalists member stages ‘standing man’ protest (03.12.2013) Balkan Insight – Media Freedom in Macedonia Alarms EFJ (29.11.2013) Tercera Informacion – La FEP se opone al fin de Canal9 (16.11.2013) Euranet Plus – Turkey remains the biggest prison for journalists (14.11.2013) Delfi – Ajakirjanike Liit mõistis hukka Leedu eriteenistuse haarangu BNSi toimetusse (14.11.2013) VerTele – Así ven en Europa el cierre de Canal 9…

80 journalists have been killed worldwide this year, including 5 in Europe, according to the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) Killed List, published today. The list details the journalists and media staff killed in targeted killings, car bomb attacks and cross fire incidents around the world during 2017. Denmark: Kim Wall The Swedish freelance journalist Kim Wall was killed in Denmark in August this year. The journalist had boarded a civilian submarine with its inventor, Peter Madsen, and was researching for a feature about him and the vessel which he had built from crowdfunding. Kim Wall’s body parts were later found…

The digital shift in journalism has resulted in pressure on business models of traditional and digital publishers, and a change in the way that news is packaged and distributed. Cost-cutting, overburdened staff and fast news cycles have led to poor working conditions for journalists and questions of quality and trust in the media. The EFJ’s new project Managing change in media works with social partners including the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and News Media Europe (NME) to find innovative ways to address these key issues. The project emphasises rights for all workers, social dialogue and gender equality. Activities: 5 thematic…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed the focus, that European Union has provided, when over 250 representatives of media, stakeholders and policymakers from the Western Balkans and the European Union met at the EU Western Balkans Media Days in Tirana, Albania, on 9 and 10 November 2017, dedicated to the important role of media in the accession process. Two panels and six workshops gave the opportunity for participants to exchange their views and work on forward-looking initiatives for independent, sustainable and professional media, in a region where the media freedom situation is not only slow to improve, but also in some…

A new report “Back to the Drawing Board: Crafting the Ideal Journalism Education Curricula for South East Europe”, published in November 2017, analysed the current state of journalistic education in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The main goal of the research is to create a set of indicators to evaluate study curricula in journalism across the SEE region. These indicators are to assist journalism faculties in ascertaining whether their curricula in journalism correspond to the overall state of the media in their countries and whether they enable students to acquire adequate journalism skills to help them maintain high professional…

Impunity is when threats, attacks and crimes against journalists go unpunished. It results in a high level of fear, intimidation, censorship and self-censorship that undermines press freedom, the public right to know and leaves victims and their relatives powerless. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) campaign to #endimpunity, which aims at holding governments and de facto governments accountable for their impunity records and denouncing any crimes targeting journalists that remain unpunished. Murder is the highest form of these crimes but all attacks targeting journalists that remain unpunished must be denounced. In Europe, the EFJ…

Leading freedom of expression organisations have submitted third-party interventions in ten cases against jailed Turkish journalists to which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has given priority status. The interventions offer detailed legal analyses of the principles at stake in the cases of the detained journalists. The cases before the ECtHR concern the detention of journalists and board members from the Cumhuriyet newspaper, along with the cases of journalists Murat Aksoy, Şahin Alpay, Ahmet and Mehmet Altan, Ali Bulaç, Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Şık, Deniz Yücel and Atilla Taş. The separate interventions include submissions from the Media Legal Defence Initiative, PEN International, ARTICLE 19, the…

Thirteen international free expression and media freedom defenders filed a brief on October 20, 2017 with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) supporting a challenge by journalists and administrators from Turkey’s independent daily Cumhuriyet to their lengthy pre-trial detention on charges of allegedly supporting terrorists. Article 19, the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Human Rights Watch, Index on Censorship, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI), the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP), the Media…

By Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Center UGent In the judgment in the case Becker v. Norway the ECtHR showed once more its concern about the importance of the protection of journalistic sources for press freedom and investigative journalism in particular. The ECtHR emphasised that a journalist’s protection under Article 10 ECHR cannot automatically be removed by virtue of a source’s own conduct, and that source protection applies also when a source’s identity is known. The judgment has been welcomed by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), as it is perceived “to strengthen the protection of journalistic sources as one of…

The Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) in partnership with the European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) successfully organised a 2-day Safety Workshop in Diyarbakir (Southeast of Turkey) on 03-04 October 2017 for local and visiting journalists regularly covering conflict zones in the region. This workshop was organised in the framework of the IFJ-EFJ-TGS project called #GazetecilikSuçDegildir / #JournalismisNOTaCrime, a campaign to set journalism free, develop trade union rights and defend freedom of expression in Turkey which receives the financial support of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) Program managed by the European Commission. 30 journalists and media workers…

Update (28.09.2017) – Hamza Yalçin has been released on 28/09/2017 by decision of Spain National High Court. “We are very pleased for our colleague, whose release we have been requesting since August 3rd,” said EFJ GS Ricardo Gutiérrez. “The Spanish Government has now to clarify that there is no basis to extradite Hamza Yalçin. There was simply no reason to arrest him: Interpol did not require his arrest.” Margot Wallström, Swedish minister for Foreign Affairs, said “I welcome the Spanish decision not to hand out Hamza Yalcin to Turkey. Hamza Yalcin is now free to travel and can return his family.Sweden…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the decision of Baltasar Garzón, a former member of Spain’s National High Court (Audiencia Nacional) to take a pro bono defense of the Swedish-Turkish journalist Hamza Yalçin currently detained in Barcelona and pending extradition by an Interpol order issued by Turkey. The International Baltasar Garzón Foundation (Fibgar) represents Hamza Yalçin through the ILOCAD law firm, runned by the magistrate, who considers that the detention violates the journalist’s rights. Hamza Yalçin, 59, a journalist citizen of Sweden, is being held in custody in Spain after being arrested on 3 August at the Barcelona airport in compliance with an…

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, has made his State of the Union speech outlining his vision for the future of Europe. Commenting on the State of the Union speech, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes his commitment to address the social dimension of the digital single market in particular in the area of social and workers’ rights. In his speech, President Juncker said: “In a Union of equals, there can be no second class workers. Workers should earn the same pay for the same work in the same place.” Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary said: “We welcome…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) condemn the court’s decision to maintain the five Cumhuriyet journalists and media workers in pre-trial detention, after a 13-hour long hearing at Silivri prison, on 11 September 2017. The court ordered their detention despite clear demonstration by the defendants’ lawyers that the accusations of “without being a member of that organisation, spreading propaganda on behalf of an illegal terrorist organisation” were completely baseless. An international delegation including the EFJ-IFJ, IPI, PEN International, Norsk PEN, PEN Vlaanderen, RSF, foreign consulate representatives, foreign press correspondents and MEP Rebecca Harms has attended the hearing and shared solidarity…