The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) together with the SafeJournalists Network stand in full solidarity with Tanjug journalists who have received death threats by email over Kosovo and Albania reporting and urge the authorities to conduct an immediate investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. On 30 September, media workers of the news agency Tanjug were threatened with death via an email sent to the newsroom office. The author of the death threat email, who signed as “Tim Bahrdi”, declared that any Tanjug journalists who entered the Kosovo-Metohija region would be “shot in the back of the head”…

On 17 September, Georgia’s Parliament adopted a legislative package entitled “Family Values and the Protection of Minors.” Among the amendments contrary to press freedom and freedom of expression, the legislation imposes censorship on media by banning broadcasters from freely reporting on LGBT+ issues. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns Georgia’s draft law, which aims to seriously endanger the non-discrimination rights of the LGBT+ community in Georgia by censoring broadcasters on topics of the utmost importance. The EFJ calls on the Georgian government to immediately reconsider such a repressive and discriminatory bill and instead uphold freedom of the press…

The undersigned international press freedom, journalists and human rights organizations strongly condemn Georgia’s recently adopted Family Values Bill. This legislation imposes censorship on media by banning broadcasters from freely reporting on LGBT+ issues. The Georgian government must stop its legal attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression.  On 17 September, Georgia’s Parliament adopted the Family Values Bill in its third reading, with 84 MPs voting in favour. The Bill is part of a legislative package titled “On Family Values and the Protection of Minors,” which proposes amendments to 18 existing laws, including the Law on Freedom of Speech and…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium expresses serious concern over the persistent spoofing of legitimate European media outlets, most recently as part of a Russian disinformation campaign called “Doppelgänger”. Over the past two years, this disinformation campaign, initially discovered in 2022, continued to weigh in the political debate with so-called cybersquatting practices, through which Russian sources leased internet domains that cloned legitimate media websites, in order to spread false narratives that were massively shared on social media. On 4 September, a total of 32 manipulative websites with domains leased from American companies were identified by the US Department of…

The EFJ is looking for a subcontractor to provide expertise as part of the implementation of the EFJ project entitled Stand Up for Journalism.  This programme is funded by the European Commission (DG Employment). The deadline for submission of bids is Friday 1 November 2024. Find more information here

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in condemning the online intimidation of investigative journalists working for La Sexta TV by Daniel Esteve, CEO of the eviction company Desokupa. Esteve’s harassment and threats to reveal personal information put the journalists’ safety at great risk. We call on the Spanish authorities to take immediate action to protect them. The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned by the threats and intimidation targeting the investigative journalism team of Equipo de Investigación, a program on Spanish private TV channel La Sexta, by Daniel Esteve, CEO and owner of…

33 EFJ members, unionists and media owners met in Istanbul, Turkey, and showed great commitment to develop their own collective bargaining and membership recruitment tactics and strategies. The 1.5-day workshop was organised by the EFJ and the Turkish Union of Journalists (TGS), one of the partners of the Stand Up for Journalists (SUJ) project. The union has attracted new young members and has had successful collective agreements, despite the worsening situation for press freedomand journalists’ working conditions in Turkey.  Speaking at the opening session, TGS President Gökhan Durmuş shared the struggle of journalists fighting for media freedom and better working…

The international media freedom mission to Croatia has highlighted several significant concerns regarding media law reform, transparency of state advertising, and the safety of journalists including SLAPPs. While some promising initiatives have been noted, the path is still long ahead for Croatia to ensure a free and independent media landscape.  The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium concluded an onlinefact-finding mission to Croatia. Between 9 and 20 September 2024, the delegation met with the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, an MP from the political party We Can!, the Agency for Electronic Media,…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium completed a two-day mission to Poland, 16-17 September, where it held meetings with the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, the Ministry of Culture as well as journalists, publishers, regulators, media law experts. The mission focused on measures to reform public service media, to protect journalists from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), and proposals to reform the media landscape in line with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The meetings discussed the changes within the public service media since the Civic Coalition-led government of Donald Tusk used contested legal mechanisms to remove senior…

The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and its affiliate the German Journalists Union (dju) in ver.di sent a letter to the management of Bauer Media Group Poland, on 19 September, following the failure of the last conciliatory stage over pay dispute with union representatives from Inicjatywa Pracownicza (“Workers’ Initiative”).  The IFJ, EFJ and dju urge the management to reconsider workers specific demands and engage in open consultation and discussion with the union’s representatives, before workers have no choice but to take strike action.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned press freedom and freedom of expression groups in strongly condemning the ongoing and intensifying threats against prominent Turkish journalist Murat Ağırel. We are deeply alarmed by the persistent pattern of intimidation, surveillance, and death threats targeting Ağırel, which represent a severe assault on press freedom and the safety of journalists in Turkey. These threats and acts of intimidation are not isolated incidents but part of a broader, systemic issue affecting press freedom in Turkey, where independent journalists frequently face significant risks in their pursuit of truth. We urgently call on the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in expressing full support for Greek journalist Stavroula Poulimeni and media outlet Alterthess ahead of their appeal on 19 September 2024. Today’s hearing follows a court ruling that partially upheld a civil lawsuit demanding damages over Poulimeni’s report on the conviction of two Hellas Gold executives for water pollution – which were overturned in 2022, as the journalist also reported at the time.  In 2023, Alterthess was ordered to pay €3,000 to one of the company’s executives for reporting his court conviction in October 2020. The…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Montenegrin affiliate, the Trade Union of Media in Montenegro (SMCG), express concerns about the way the Director-General of the Public Service RTCG has been elected on 31 August 2024. The organisations call on all relevant institutions, primarily the Labor Inspectorate, to take action as soon as possible to clarify the situation in which Boris Raonić has become the Director-General of the Public Service for the third time. The Montenegrin parliamentarians ignored the appeals sent to them before the adoption of the amendments to the Law on RTCG, which were related to the…

On 15 September, Belarusian journalist Andrei Mialeshka was denied entry to Georgia, where he has lived for the past three years after facing political persecution in Belarus. On 17 September, Armenian journalist Arsen Kharatyan, editor-in-chief of an independent non-profit bilingual Georgian-Armenia media platform Aliq Media based in Tbilisi, was also denied entry to Georgia. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemn the denial of entry of both journalists and call on the Georgian authorities to uphold freedom of access for all journalists. Andrei Mialeshka was returning from Poland to Georgia with his daughter and was barred from entering…

From 23 to 24 September 2024, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be hosting a workshop entitled “Collective bargaining in though times” at the TGS Academy in Istanbul, as part of the Stand up for Journalism (SUJ) project. The workshop will address the different challenges related to collective bargaining, including the topics surrounding the digital age, with insightful speakers from all around Europe. This workshop is the first in a series of five 5 thematic, capacity-building workshops. The others will focus on online harassement and better protection of journalists, equal rights for freelancers, well-being and burnout in journalism and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the warning letter sent this week by European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova to the Slovak authorities over the reform and political capture of the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS. The EFJ calls on the European Union to prepare infringement proceedings against Slovakia for non-compliance with Union law. On 30 June 2024, the Slovak President Peter Pellegrini enacted the new Law on Slovak Television and Radio, which entered into force on 1 July. Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) is changing to Slovak Television and Radio (STVR). In her letter to Slovak Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová,…