Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office announced on 26 January that it has added the independent news outlet Meduza to the country’s list of “undesirable” organizations. This sanction is intended to force the targeted entities to dissolve. It puts media staff and financial donors at risk of criminal prosecution, including a significant prison sentence. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns this censorship of one of the main sources of independent information in Russia. Russia has been banning “undesirable organizations” since 2015, when lawmakers granted the Prosecutor General’s Office the power to assign this status to any foreign or international non-governmental…

The European Federation of Journalists welcomes the initiative of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) to launch a new platform for the online safety of journalists, “On The Line“. The platform is based on a protocol written by the International Press Institute (IPI) and gathers resources and tools designed to help newsrooms and journalists deal with online threats. It was created following the increasing number of online hate speech in the country. Two sections refer specifically to online menaces and attacks on female journalists and on freelance journalists. The protocol is based on the importance of peer support and cooperation, the…

President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik has requested to re-introduce defamation and insults as “criminal offences” in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BH Journalists Association (BH Novinari) raises the alarm in the face of the increasing threat that would cause the impending criminalisation of defamation, which has been a civil wrong in the country since 1999. The European and International Federation of Journalists join their affiliate, the BH Novinari, in warning of the dangers of criminalising defamation and ask for the European Commission and the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent on Friday its contribution to the Commission’s Rule of Law report, which reviews every year four key areas: justice systems, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and freedom, and checks and balances. The issues found in most of the countries surveyed are all related to media concentration and the increasing number of SLAPPs. The objective of this consultation – jointly carried out with the EFJ affiliates – is to feed the assessment of the Commission with factual information from the ground in each Member States. Read more of the EFJ’s contribution:   EFJ Contribution…

Is there a story in your local town, somewhere in Europe, that you think is worth sharing with the rest of the world? If the answer is yes, but you lack resources, we may have the solution for you: a grant to support local investigative journalists and/or local news media outlets from several European countries who want to do investigative reporting at the local level in resonance with the European level. Why local? In every nook and cranny of the world, there are many stories waiting to be told. This grant programme aims to tackle the shortage of local journalists and…

In a new survey launched by the Federation of Journalists’ Unions in Spain (FeSP), 52% of journalists say that their professional and working situation has deteriorated, 45% point to a greater workload with the same income and 39% of freelancers say they have fewer assignments. The Federation of Journalists’ Unions-FeSP has launched a survey in October-November 2022 to find out the impact of the pandemic on the professional situation of women journalists and freelancers at the national level, as well as to identify possible training needs, mainly regarding ICT tools, that could help improve their employability and adaptation to the…

Ukrainian journalists’ organizations are sounding the alarm. The new Media Law signed by President Zelensky threatens media freedom. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) call on the European Commission and the Council of Europe to convince the Ukrainian authorities to review the law, in consultation with journalists’ organizations and the media. The representative trade unions of Ukrainian journalists, NUJU and IMTUU, denounce multiple problematic provisions, starting with the political dependence of the state regulator and the widening of the spectrum of extrajudicial sanctions against the media. On 29 December, president Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a controversial bill…

​The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today publishes its position on the draft proposal for the  European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which was adopted by its Steering Committee in Brussels on 13 January.   While we welcome the European Commission’s initiative to strengthen the free and pluralistic media system, and the commitment to protect journalists and editorial independence within the European Union, we stress the importance of a more robust protection of both media freedom and editorial independence.  In its position, the EFJ proposes urgent amendments which are crucial to be included by the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the European…

Following a decision of the General Meeting in Izmir (Turkey) in June 2022, members of the European Federation of Journalists decided to create a new expert group focusing on gender and diversity issues (Gender and Diversity Expert Group – GENDEG). The first in-person meeting took place on 12 January 2023. The group, chaired by Elena Tarifa (FeSP, Spain) and Lina Kushch (NUJU, Ukraine), consists of 13 other members from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Switzerland. This first meeting launched the discussions around priorities, objectives, as well as an action plan for 2023. The safety of female…

Media outlets across Poland united in a strong act of solidarity when the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) decided to launch legal proceedings against TVN for “promoting false information” over a report critical of the Smoleńsk committee. The report, published on Monday 12 September, was made free of charge by the broadcaster TVN. Media outlets Gazeta Wyborcza, Newsweek Polska, Rzeczpospolita, radio stations Radio Zet, Tok FM, and RMF, news websites Onet, OKO.press and Wirtuala were amongst the dozens of editorial offices that published the documentary. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Polish affiliate the Society of Journalists (TD) welcomes…

Several journalists and media workers working on environmental and climate stories have been subjected to threats and obstruction to press work in 2022, hindering the right to information of the public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is alarmed by the risks associated with climate journalism throughout Europe and recalls the necessity for media to cover the current ecological and social issues.  Climate journalism has gone from being a niche beat to a field covered by a lot of national and international media outlets. Despite a belated but tangible expansion of the media coverage, journalists’ organisations have witnessed a lack…

The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) raise the alert on the increasing threats surrounding journalists and media workers reporting on the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo from the North of Kosovo, and joins its affiliate the Association of Journalists in Kosovo (AJK) in asking the competent authorities, including the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the police, to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of journalists reporting on the ground. Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have escalated recently, especially in the divided city of Mitrovica, with Belgrade (Serbia) accusing Pristina…

New Year’s Eve is always a difficult time for journalists’ organisations and their European federation, the EFJ. How can we celebrate when we know that 13 journalists were killed in Europe, mainly in Ukraine, in 2022? How can we celebrate when we know that 124 journalists in Europe will spend New Year’s Eve in prison? The European Federation of Journalists has only one wish for the coming year: that these 124 colleagues be released. May no other journalist be killed or imprisoned simply for doing their job in 2023. On this special day, the EFJ remembers the 13 journalists killed in…

Today, the Government of Kosovo announced that it will offer shelter to five journalists fleeing persecution in Afghanistan. The journalists will receive housing, a monthly stipend, health insurance and a return ticket, for when circumstances on the ground allow them to go back home. The project will be integrated into ECPMF’s Journalist-in-Residence programme in Kosovo, in collaboration with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). The organisations are teaming up with the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) as implementing partner. Following the announcement, ECPMF’s senior legal advisor Flutura Kusari said: “We welcome this decision by the Government of Kosovo, who are again offering their support…

Football supporter Andrea Serrani, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for five years, and ordered to pay 10,000 euros for groping television journalist Greta Beccaglia as she reported live after a football match in 2021. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their affiliate, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in welcoming the court’s decision and warning against any further attempt of sexual assault against media professionals. On 27 November 2021, Toscana TV journalist, Greta Beccaglia, was groped by Serrani while reporting live from the Empoli vs Fiorentina game in Empoli. Beccaglia…

Italian freelance journalist Claudio Locatelli was injured by Russian fire on December 19 in the southern city of Kherson, while driving a car marked clearly as press, together with photojournalist Niccolò Celesti and their interpreter, Daniel. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliate, the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI), in condemning the deliberate attack and recalling that Ukraine is the deadliest country for journalists and media workers in 2022 with 12 killed. On Wednesday, at the request of the Italian embassy, the Ukrainian authorities opened an investigation into a possible war crime. On December…