According the NVJ (Dutch Journalists Association, EFJ-IFJ affiliate), Frederike Geerdink, a Dutch correspondent based in Diyarbakir (Turkey), has today (10/09/2015) been deported by the Turkish authorities to Amsterdam after being detained two days for reporting on a Kurdish group protesting clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and the Turkish military. The Turkish authorities are accusing the Dutch reporter of “hindering a military operation and supporting a terrorist organisation”. Frederike Geerdink lived Turkey since 2006 and has been based in Diyarbakir since 2012 where she writes about Turkish and Kurdish matters for Dutch and international media as well as a critical…

Alongside their Spanish affiliates, the Federation of Journalists Unions (FeSP), the Spanish Press Federations of Journalists Associations (FAPE) and Periodistas de CCOO (FSC-CCOO),  the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), express their concern over the missing of three Spanish freelance journalists in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. FAPE President Elsa Gonzalez told media that José Manuel López, Antonio Pampliega and Ángel Sastre entered Syria from Turkey on July 10 and were last heard from on July 12. The three journalists were reporting from the northwestern Aleppo region, a city divided between rebel…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today expressed deep concerns about the violence used against journalists and media workers covering labour issues in Turkey. “International standards like freedom of association, right to collective bargaining and right to strike must be respected by all parties and journalists who are playing a key role to assess the effectiveness of those rights should be totally free to do their job”, said EFJ-IFJ. According to media reports and local trade unionists, journalists and freelance media workers reporting on labour issues for the daily Evrensel Gazetesi and the…

Safety, rights and jobs Mogens Blicher Bjerregård EFJ President Safety, rights and jobs have been and will be our three keywords in the European Federation of Journalists these years. In solidarity we will work within that framework Safety as has been more an IFJ topic has also become an EFJ issue. I addressed it last November at the annual meeting in Moscow. Unfortunately, we see more journalists killed in Europe than ever, journalists are jailed for doing their job. Journalists are beaten and the digitization challenges protection of sources. Rights: Labor rights, rights to organize without being expelled from the…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ ) have welcomed the steadfast commitment of Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Thorbjørn Jagland to protect journalism and the safety of journalists in the 47 member states of the CoE with the launch of an online platform to monitor media violations. Prior to the press conference on the CoE platform to strengthen the protection of journalism and journalists’ safety on Tuesday 19 May, Jagland participated in a meeting at the headquarters of the IFJ and the EFJ in Brussels with the other partners (Reporter Without Borders…

Objective : To build stronger, more effective journalists’ trade unions in the target countries of Eastern Europe Activities Each year the project conducts the following national and regional programmes: National programmes: each national union will have an in-country programme focused on TU development, recruitment and representation. These programmes will include : – One TU leadership workshop – A programme of union recruitment / rights awareness seminars – Recruitment / rights awareness materials – Legal advice – Database on membership / rights / safety of journalists – Regional Programme: one regional meeting a year to review project progress and campaigns. Includes…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a partner of Media Freedom Rapid Response project (MFRR) aiming to promote an independent, pluralistic media landscape, to safeguard media workers, especially harassed female media workers and to protect the rights of journalists. The RRM helps to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of media freedom in several European Union, Member States and Candidate Countries. Overall Objective The overall objective of this project is to provide practical support for journalists to improve media freedom in Europe. The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is designed to detect, answer and prevent violations of…

Following a resolution in favour of a new expert group focusing on gender and diversity issues, adopted at the EFJ General Assembly 2022 in Izmir (Turkey), the Gender and Diversity Expert Group (GENDEG) was created to address inequalities in the profession both within media organisations and in media content. In view of the specific problems faced by women journalists and journalists from diverse social,  and ethnic background, physical or mental disabilities as well as diverse sexual identity or orientation – such as rampant sexism in newsrooms, violence at work, online harassment, pay inequalities, and the harmful stereotyping still prevalent in…

en français / en español by Paco Audije (Spain, member of the Steering Committee of the EFJ) Today on World Press Freedom Day (#WPFD), the right to freedom of expression is again be celebrated as an inalienable European value across the continent — by the public, the media and politicians alike. But to many, this will mean little more than engaging in a well trodden mental routine. We hardly consider the difficulties that freedom of expression faces in practice. In the first part of 2015, more than a third of journalist killings in the word took place in two European…

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day (#WPFD), tomorrow, the European Federation of Journalists strongly calls for release of imprisoned journalists in Europe. With their affiliates in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia and Belarus, the EFJ and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are following closely the cases of 33 imprisoned journalists in Europe. All of them are in prison just for having done their job. Together with the Helsinki Commission, the EFJ call on again the authorities of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia to release those journalists who remain imprisoned. We will not forget them… Turkey (follow the IFJ/EFJ campaign “Set journalists free in Turkey”)…

“The annual Progress Reports produced by the European Commission does not say much about the situation of press freedom and freedom of expression in the candidate countries. Therefore, I call the Commission to better focus on those topics as we need a deeper analysis and development on those important topics, specially regarding the situation in Turkey”, said Guy Verhofstadt, member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe of (ALDE) , during a seminar on Press Freedom in Turkey co-organized on 22/04/2015 by ALDE and the Greens. The liberal MEP’s call to…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) are shocked today by the decision of the chief prosecutor to appeal a court decision made on Monday 13 April to acquit the Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink for terror charges. Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President said, “This is seriously alarming. The judicial system and the level of judicial harassment facing journalists in Turkey show more than ever that more actions must be taken. “We stand together with all human rights organisations and urge both national governments and international institutions to put human right issues in Turkey as…

Turkish cartoonists Bahadir Baruter and Ozer Aydogan, from the Turkish satirical magazine Penguen, have been found guilty of insulting Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a cartoon on the cover of the magazine’s August issue. The court sentenced both cartoonists to 11 months and 20 days in prison on March 24. That sentence was subsequently commuted to a fine of 7,000 Liras (2,500 euros) each. The cartoon depicted newly elected Erdogan arriving at his presidential palace and saying: “What a bland celebration. We could have at least sacrificed a journalist.” The prosecutor alleged that the cartoon was insulting in that one…

In a meeting with delegates of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Friday 20 March 2015, the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr. Johannes Hahn, has called for more progress made on press freedom in the West Balkans and Turkey. Commissioner Hahn expressed his concerns about media freedom in West Balkans and Turkey and pointed out that it was not satisfactory to see these countries receiving the same critical comments every year. He confirmed that the Commission considers media freedom as a fundamental right and as a key element in the transformation of countries into democratic…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today (16/03/2015) attended at the Press Club Brussels the presentation of a new report called Untold Stories – How Corruption and Conflicts of Interests Stalk the Newsroom published by the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), a global coalition of 50 journalism and media support groups, including the EFJ. The EJN published report is gathering data and stories from distinguished journalists from 18 countries representative of different regions (Western Balkans, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Turkey, UK and Ukraine) that exposes how media managers are doing “deals” with advertisers to carry paid-for material disguised as news, how…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) marks 8 March, International Women’s Day, by celebrating the courage of women journalists across Europe. The EFJ supports the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) campaign calling for access to leadership in unions and media organisations for women. A recent report from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) concluded that “persistent gender inequalities in the media sector can be challenged by advancing women in decision-making.” “While women have considerably outnumbered men in university level and practice-based journalism programmes and women are employed in media professions in ever-increasing numbers, the organisational culture of media organisations remains largely masculine, and women are still significantly…