The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today to express concern over proposed modifications to news programming at the Slovenian public television RTV, which would reduce the broadcaster’s ability to inform the public and scrutinise power. We therefore urge the broadcaster’s management to enter into dialogue with its editorial board to ensure adjustments are proportionate and in the best interest of public interest reporting. Under the draft Program-Production Plan (PPN) for 2022, shows such as the flagship foreign policy programme, Globus, and many news talk shows would be cancelled. Daily news…

On 23 November 2021, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation) Europe Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media (RfoM) launched a report titled “Legal Harassment and abuse of the judicial system against the media”. The report’s aim is to underline the risks associated with the journalistic profession, and discusses the effects of legal procedures, underlining the problematic nature of the abuse of the judicial system against media workers. It shares examples of cases where the law was being misused to prevent media workers, including journalists, from doing their work or as “a means of retaliation for their…

Two Norwegian journalists working for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) were arrested by Qatari authorities for 36 hours. They had been covering the poor working conditions for migrant workers in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) and their Norwegian affiliate, the Norwegian Union of Journalists (NJ), strongly condemn this detention and call on the Qatari authorities to provide full explanations for the arrests and to enable free journalism. On Sunday, 21 November, journalist Halvor Ekeland and photographer Lokman Ghorbani were detained outside their hotel in Doha before their flight back to Norway. They were released…

European Federation of Journalists Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG+) and Freelance Expert Group (FREG) met in Paris on 15 November invited by the SNJ-CGT with the objective to make bridges and coordinate better their action and work. Representatives of 20 European journalists’ organisations exchanged good practices and knowledge about collective bargaining, social dialogue as well as freelancers’ rights. The implementation of the Copyright directive and the expected new guidelines on EU competition rules for freelancers were also discussed. Read below a summary of the situation in the Balkan region, by LAREG co-chair and President of the Croatian Union of Journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today to call on the Polish government to respect and facilitate the free flow of information by allowing journalists access to the border with Belarus to report on the humanitarian situation. We also urge Polish police and military personnel to refrain from arbitrary detentions and intimidation of media workers working in the area around the restricted zone. Since early September, journalists have been unable to report from inside a three-kilometre-wide stretch of land along the Belarusian border placed under a state of emergency. The measure limits…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today in urging the Greek government to immediately provide clarity over allegations that a state intelligence agency conducted surveillance on journalist Stavros Malichudis and the investigative media organisation Solomon, which focuses on refugees and migration in Greece. The revelationspublished by Greek newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton (EFSYN), which indicated the government’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) had secretly been conducting monitoring of Malichudis, pose serious questions over journalistic source protection and the right to privacy in Greece, which is already facing growing questions over a decline in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) join PEN International, PEN Moscow and St Petersburg PEN in condemning the Russian authorities’ move to shut down Memorial International Society and its sister organisation Memorial Human Rights Centre, which are amongst the most prominent civil rights organisations in Russia. The EFJ urges the Russian authorities to drop the lawsuits against Memorial, and to end their crackdown on freedom of expression and association. On 11 November, the Russian Supreme Court notified Memorial International Society that prosecutors have filed a lawsuit to liquidate the civil rights…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express serious concern over a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) targeted against the small independent media outlet Alterthess and its journalist Stavroula Poulimeni by a Greek gold mining executive convicted of serious environmental crimes. Our organisations note that this case again underscores the need for a swift European Union directive and Council of Europe Recommendation to protect journalists and media outlets reporting in the public interest from this kind of abusive litigation. On 19 October 2021, the cooperative journalistic website Alterthess in Thessaloniki…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Croatia, the Croatian Journalists Association (HND) in condemning two more lawsuits by the public media company HRT against its two vice-presidents. The EFJ was informed that on Monday the head of the HRT public broadcaster’s “Business operation” unit, Mislav Stipic, has filed a private slander lawsuit against HND vice-presidents Branko Mijic and Goran Gazdek thus continuing a string of lawsuits against journalists and HND leaders. Stipic has sued over a statement published on 12 March under the title “Bacic’s taking to court leading people of the HND and Croatian Trade Union new attack…

On 11 November 2021, the Reuters Institute published its November Institute Report. A panel of experts discussed the findings of a non-exhaustive study on hybrid working and the implications of this new model. The report, titled ‘Changing newsroom 2021: Hybrid Working and Improving Diversity Remain Twin Challenges for Publishers’, was written by Federica Cherubini, Nic Newman, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. It was published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. The report supports previousfindings of an EFJ report by Marc Gruberwhich noted that the future is hybrid, although working from home policies implemented…

The European Parliament adopted by a large majority a report on the use of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) against journalists in the European Union at the plenary session on 11 November 2021. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed an ambitious text which recognises the magnitude of the problem, its detrimental impact on democracy and proposes a comprehensive set of measures to address it. With 444 votes in favour, 48 against, and 75 abstentions, MEPs took a step forward towards better protection of journalists by adopting a report on the increasing use of abusive lawsuits whose aim is…

In September, Poland’s president Andrzej Duda, at the request of the government and with the approval of the Polish parliament, introduced a state of emergency along the country’s border with Belarus, amid a surge in crossings by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. That included a ban on non-resident civilians, including journalists, from entering the area. The measures, which were initially in place for a month, were later extended until December. As a consequence, the public opinion has been left relying on information provided by the Belarusian dictatorship, which is orchestrating the crisis, and the Polish authorities. The European Federation of…

Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s oldest English-language newspaper and largest independent newspaper, has abruptly been shut down, a decision that was announced on 8 November 2021 on the newspaper’s website. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Ukrainian affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), in expressing solidarity for the terminated employees and denouncing an attack on independent journalism. The decision of owner and real-estate businessman Adnan Kivan to close down the Kyiv Post allegedly follows a disagreement between the editorial staff and the owner about future planned changes. Kivan had plans to expand the Kyiv Post and launch…

After its liquidation by the Supreme Court in August 2021, the Belarusian Association of Journalists‘ (BAJ) website is now blocked for users in Belarus. The Belarusian authorities further labelled the TV channel Belsat, its social media accounts as well as its subscribers as “extremist”. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) condemn once again the continued crackdown on its affiliate and critical media outlets in Belarus. As BAJ reported on 4 November, the Ministry of Information of Belarus decided to block the access of Belarusian users to the BAJ website: “BAJ considers the liquidation of the organisation and the…

On the occasion of the World Decent Work Day on 7 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has launched a report “Journalists working from home? a labour rights perspective for a hybrid future“ authored by Marc Gruber, showing the impact of the pandemic on the working conditions of journalists and the trend of the hybrid working model is becoming the norm. The report shows that while the working from home policies implemented by media companies are far from perfect, most journalists would still want to work from home but in a hybrid working model which allows them to work…

The Belarusian government has blocked access to Deutsche Welle’s website as well as other foreign news portals. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its German affiliates, the German Journalists Association (DJV) and the German Journalists Union (dju in ver.di), in condemning this censorship and calling for the website to be immediately re-enabled. Since 28 October, Deutsche Welle’s website is blocked in Belarus, the German public state-owned international broadcaster informed. The online offers in all 32 broadcast languages are no longer available. #Belarus sperrt Internetseite der Deutschen Welle – völlig inakzeptabel! https://t.co/V4QRqpuK03 #journalismus #deutschewelle — dju in ver.di (@djuverdi) October 29, 2021 The Ministry…