The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) held its Annual Meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, on 11-12 May 2023. Organised by the Dutch journalists’ union NVJ, the event gathered 62 delegates from 41 journalists’ organisations from all over Europe joining forces to defend media freedom and the working conditions of journalists. As every year, decisions were taken on the budget, the EFJ work programme (see here the 18 resolutions and 5 statements adopted on national and European issues), the financial and activity reports. But the Annual Meeting is also an opportunity to provide a space for discussion to journalists’ trade unions…

Speech by Maja Sever (EFJ President) on 11 May 2023. Thank you for your kind words of support, welcome, and hospitality. My dear friends and colleagues, Unfortunately, our journalistic work has become such that, despite the pleasure of meeting and the hope that we will discuss and work successfully to strengthen journalism during these two days, I have to start with some sad news from Ukraine. One of us is gone; our college Arman Soldin, a 32-year-old French journalist born in Sarajevo, was killed while reporting in the war zone of eastern Ukraine. I invite you to pay tribute to Arman…

Journalist Arman Soldin was killed on 9 May 2023 in the afternoon in a shelling attack near Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. The 32- year- old was working for the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP). The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliates in Ukraine and France in expressing their condolences to Soldin’s relatives, colleagues and friends. The attack happened at around 4:30 pm on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a town close to Bakhmut, the epicentre of the fighting in eastern Ukraine for several months. Four AFP colleagues and a group of Ukrainian military personnel survived the attack uninjured.…

Journalists at Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Istanbul entered their 7th day of strike action to demand higher salaries in the face of soaring prices. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expresses support for striking journalists and urges the AFP to provide decent wages to its employees. A fair wage is not a privilege, but a right. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) went on strike on World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, after failing to reach an agreement with the management of the global news agency. Journalists’ demands include an increase in salaries to compensate for inflation as well…

This op-ed was published on the Social Europe website. By Oliver Roethig and Ricardo Gutiérrez The aspiration for a quality news platform that draws Europe together is being suffocated. In the wake of the takeover last year of Euronews, an editorial overhaul and mass layoffs are being pressed by its new owner. In 1993, Euronews was created by national public broadcasters as a European response to the ‘CNN effect’—how news channels were increasingly shaping public and political opinion. A broadcaster with a public mission at its heart was the vision, the choice to construct a freely-accessible, multilingual European alternative, in the hands of the public,…

On 3 May, Raman Pratasevich, former editor of the Telegram opposition news channel Nexta, was given an eight year prison sentence by a Belarusian court in Minsk. He was arrested back in 2021. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in condemning this blatant attack on press freedom and in calling for him to be released immediately. Following a trial that lasted nearly three months, Raman Pratasevich was found guilty and convicted on alleged charges that included “organising mass riots”, “incitement to hatred”, “founding an extremist group”, “conspiracy to seize…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organised, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, a 1.5 day conference on the safety of journalists. Held at the Bozar in Brussels, the conference brought together journalists, experts, representatives of the EU and trade unions to discuss the safety of journalists, both physically and psychologically. If journalists and media workers are not protected, democracies are endangered The conference opened with a minute of silence for killed journalists around the world. Figures show that Europe has become a dangerous place for media professionals: for the year 2022, the Media Freedom Rapid Response…

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched its risk assessment tool designed to help journalists and media workers better prepare for risky assignments. The platform safety4journalists.org was presented on 3 May in Brussels during the final conference of the Safety4Journalists project. The website has been developed by safety experts with experience in training journalists, media workers and media managers. Journalists completing the survey will receive customised advice to help mitigate the risks that they might face during a specific assignment, along with rapid response mechanisms. They are also able to visualise these…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined European organisations, representing thousands of media outlets, journalists and all other media workers across the EU, in calling on Member States to ensure effective protection of sources in the proposed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). While we welcome the intentions of Article 4, which “aims to guarantee that journalists and editors can work without interference, including when it comes to protecting their sources and communications”, we consider the protections foreseen in the Commission’s draft to be insufficient to effectively shield journalists from undue interference, prohibit surveillance of journalists and protect journalistic sources and…

Journalists’ organisations across Europe demonstrated against austerity on 1 May. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the delegation of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in Paris alongside the French unions. “Europe needs a new economic and social model that puts people and the planet before profit at any cost,” said Esther Lynch, the ETUC General Secretary. “That’s the future that European trade union members will be demonstrating for today. And that will be the objective of our discussions and decision at the ETUC’s congress later this month. The history of May Day tells us that real change is…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins journalists and press freedom, civil society, trade unions, and digital rights groups in a letter to Sabine Verheyen, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), in expressing concerns about several changes in the CULT’s report on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).  Dear Sabine Verheyen, We, the undersigned journalists, press freedom, civil society, trade unions, and digital rights groups, are writing to you with regard to the proposed amendments to the draft  European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) you have written as the Rapporteur on behalf of the Committee on Culture…

Our Italian FNSI affiliates were visited today in Rome by Julian Assange‘s wife, Stella Morris. The Italian journalists’ union, at the initiative of its Campania branch, presented Julian Assange with an FNSI membership card. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) passed on the initiative to its affiliates in Europe: 19 of them decided to follow the Italian example and grant Julian Assange membership (or honorary membership) of their organisations. The EFJ and its affiliates once again call on the UK authorities to release Julian Assange. Here is the joint appeal delivered to Stella Morris in Rome this morning: We, the…

Two journalists working for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica came under fire on 26 April 2023, while reporting near the Antonivskiy Bridge on the outskirts of Kherson, in southern Ukraine. A Ukrainian journalist working as a fixer, Bohdan Bitik, was shot dead. His Italian colleague, Corrado Zunino, was wounded in the shoulder. Zunino was wearing a bulletproof vest marked “press” but it is unclear whether Bitik wore one as well. The attack was carried out “most likely by Russian snipers”, the newspaper reported. “I’m well, I’ve got a wound in my right shoulder, shaved by the bullet that hit my…

This yearʼs World Intellectual Property Day – celebrated on 26 April 2023 – is marked by critical technological developments that will change the relationship between citizens and creative works – including, crucially, the creativity that goes into producing news reporting that is factual, ethical and engaging. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries worldwide, and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) over 320.000 journalists in 45 countries. We are committed to quality ethical journalism, recognising that this depends on journalists making a living. Machine-learning systems are “trained” on the work of human authors, among whom are journalists, photographers…

Following a visit to Belgrade on April 10 and 11 2023 to commemorate the murder anniversary of editor and publisher Slavko Ćuruvija, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned international press freedom and journalists’ organisations in issuing a stark warning over the state of media freedom and journalists’ safety in Serbia. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, our shared conclusion is that 24 years after the murder of Ćuruvija in 1999, poor conditions for the safety of journalists, the weak landscape for the rule of law, media capture and a festering climate of hostility towards critical reporting mean that the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined media freedom, freedom of expression, and human rights organisations in calling on Turkish authorities to stop the systematic harassment and intimidation of Kurdish journalists, media workers, media outlets, the lawyers that defend them, and Kurdish political party officials, give them access to legal counsel, disclose full details of charges brought and to ensure that they are released from detention. We reiterate the need for a free and pluralistic media atmosphere in the run-up to the elections that will be held on 14 May 2023. On 25 April, coordinated dawn raids in Turkey targeted…