Police summoned Le Média journalist Thomas Dietrich to Puteaux police station (Paris), where he was interrogated for two hours over a recent journalistic investigation. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) joined their affiliate in France, the SNJ-CGT, in denouncing the attempted intimidation and have called on the authorities to dismiss the groundless complaint against him. The summons followed a complaint filed by the former head of the Chadian political police, Mahamat Ismaël Chaïbo, for “threats to commit a crime or an offence” after the journalist went to his home in Paris to ask him questions. The journalist denied…

More than 250 days have now passed since the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) last received state funding for carrying out its public service mission from the government of Janez Janša, which currently presides over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since the beginning of the year, the STA has been forced to operate without public funds guaranteed to it under two separate laws while a contractual dispute manufactured by the Government Communication Office (UKOM) is played out with the aim of forcing the agency to submit to greater government control. As the Slovenian government took over the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today strongly condemn the attack on the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO) by Covid-19 deniers and anti-vaccination protesters last Friday.  At around 8:30pm on 3 September 2021, protesters broke into the RTVSLO studio in Ljubljana. The group of about 20 protesters, believed to be from the OPS group (Aware Residents of Slovenia), entered the building and managed to break into a newsroom. The group was demanding airtime on RTVSLO platforms to share their anti-vaccine views and an end to what they alleged was…

ABOUT THE COURSE  The safety of journalists has become ever more important in recent years with an increasing number of journalists facing threats, harassment and injuries in relation to their daily work. While some threats require a broader political and cultural change among multi-stakeholders, others can be mitigated by individuals and organisational level by journalists and media organisations. With this in mind, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) has developed this course to address individual journalists with the aims to enhance their personal capacities in making aware of operational media associated…

In recent days, several Maltese journalists and media outlets have been victims of online spoofing in what appears to be a major campaign to spread disinformation and discredit those who are targeted. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), in denouncing these shameful intimidation attempts and call on the authorities to investigate those responsible for them. For the past week, numerous false articles and emails purporting to be written by journalists, organisations or public figures and containing false information have been spread in the country. On 26 June, blogger…

The Belarus Supreme Court dissolved today the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), the only independent representative organisation of journalists and media workers in Belarus and one of the country’s most prominent champions of freedom of expression. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemn this parody of justice. Today, in Minsk, the Belarus Supreme Court held a hearing on the dissolution of BAJ, the EFJ and IFJ affiliate in Belarus. For over 25 years, BAJ and its membership of over 1,300 media workers has promoted freedom of expression and independent journalism in Belarus, facilitating…

UNESCO just published an open-access handbook for journalism educators, media organisations and associations on how to report on migrants and refugees. This timely publication was researched and edited by the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism at the TU Dortmund University in Germany. The volume can be used as a self-learning tool or as part of journalistic training. Journalists learn how knowledge and awareness of accurate facts, reliable sources and ethical reporting are key to cover migration and forced displacement. The goal is to improve the coverage of migration and create a more balanced and informed public debate across countries…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj last week banned the opposition media news site Strana.ua and imposed sanctions on its editor-in-chief, Ihor Huzhva. Lawyers have criticised these measures for their “lack of legal basis”. This decision comes only six months after closing down three TV channels in early 2021. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Ukraine, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), in calling this extrajudicial action a threat to press freedom and media pluralism in the country. On 21 August 2021, it was revealed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyj banned Strana.ua, one of the largest news…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is hosting a series of webinars on teleworking and hybrid working during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. This new way of working has brought new challenges to journalists and media organisations, such as issues regarding the separation of work and private life at home in connection to mental health and the right to disconnect. As it has become clear that this “new normal” will last beyond the current health crisis, the webinars will discuss the challenges and address how journalists organisations and media employers should adapt. The webinars received financial support from UNESCO and the European…

Civil society and journalists’ organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), call on the G7 to protect and evacuate journalists and media workers in Afghanistan. Ahead of the G7 summit on the situation in Afghanistan, we, the undersigned organisations, call on G7 countries to make a clear and explicit commitment to taking journalists and media workers as an urgent and immediate priority, ensure their protection and evacuate them and their families. We ask that G7 members: Make an explicit commitment to evacuate all journalists, media workers and media advocates at risk, and…

The undersigned organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express serious concern over the Molotov cocktail attack on the home of journalist Willem Groeneveld in Groningen last night. We welcome the prompt response of the Dutch authorities to carry out a police investigation. Our organisations call on the authorities to analyse the safety measures that were in place, to establish the motive of the attack and to bring those responsible to justice. Coming so soon after the fatal shooting of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam in July, this potential attempted murder represents another serious…

The international community needs to urgently show solidarity with all Belarusian individuals and organisations struggling for their basic human rights, often at great cost to their own lives and livelihoods. The Belarus government’s escalating crackdown must be met with intensified international efforts to pressure the Lukašenka administration to change course and respect the human rights of the Belarusian people. We, the undersigned organisations, firmly condemn the Belarusian government’s rapidly escalating crackdown on Belarusian civil society and its increasingly brazen abuses of the Belarusian people’s right to freedom of expression and information. We further call on officials of the European Union, Council of…

A new episode in the wave of repression against the media took place on Wednesday morning in Belarus: police in Minsk have searched the homes of several employees of the independent news agency BelaPAN and its online version, Naviny. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) denounce the detention of several media workers in connection with these searches. Iryna Leushyna, director and editor-in-chief of BelaPAN, was detained, as were accountant Ekaterina Boeva and former director Dmitry Novozhilov, according to the EFJ-IFJ affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). These new detentions bring to 33 the number of journalists and…

Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese business mogul, has been indicted for the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 and will face a trial by jury on a date yet to be set. Fenech faces charges of complicity in murder and criminal association. So far, Vince Muscat has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder earlier this year. Two further alleged hitmen, the brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio will also face trial. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Fenech’s indictment and urges the Maltese authorities to finally end impunity and punish everyone involved…

After the dismissal without prior notice of two journalists and one cameraman from the local station TV Šibenik, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (TUCJ) repeat their call for a national collective agreement to ensure local media’s independence and journalists’ labour rights, referring to their campaign “Local media for citizens, not sheriffs“. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Croatian affiliates in condemning these extraordinary dismissals and supports the demand for a collective protection mechanism. On 13 August, the CJA and TUCJ held a press conference to denounce the recent decision of the owner of…

The photojournalist Oleksandr Kuzhelny from the online media Bykvu was brutally beaten after a right-wing rally in the center of Kyiv on 14 August. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) reported the incident. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in the call on the authorities to hold the attackers to account and better protect journalists during demonstrations. The incident occurred after a protest at the Ukrainian President’s residence in Bankova Street called “Stop the capitulation”. Various nationalist groups had come together to protest against recent “repressions targeting Ukrainian nationalists”. The gathering soon turned violent as clashes erupted between…