Four European organisations are joining forces to strengthen cross-border, local investigative journalism in Europe through the “Cross-border Local” project. With financial support from the European Commission (Creative Europe), Transitions (Czech Republic), SSE Riga Centre for Media Studies (Latvia), the European Federation of Journalists (Belgium), and Journalismfund.eu (Belgium) will undertake a multifaceted, 1.3 million € programme that will impact the journalism profession in Europe. This project will target journalists and news outlets from all Creative Europe participating countries (EU and non-EU). Cross-Border Local will revolve around three main support mechanisms: A grant programme Addressing the shortage of local independent journalism in many countries, this initiative will award grants to…

TRADE UNIONS FOR A FAIR RECOVERY: Strengthening the role of trade unions in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis COVID-19 has underlined the importance of Social Dialogue in societies across Europe. While it has come to the forefront during the pandemic, it is crucial that effective social dialogue is at the heart of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs). Strong unions are essential for a fair recovery ! The pandemic has been asymmetrical, affecting different countries in different ways. To adequately tackle this, the EFJ and the ETUC are launching an initiative funded by the European Commission which…

Journalists and media workers have always been considered “high risk” workers because of the nature of their work. But in reality, there is both a lack of awareness of health and safety issues and of protective measures and policies in place for journalists and media workers. As speed is essential for breaking news, there is barely time to carry out risk assessments for journalists. However, journalists face omnipresent risks to their health and safety, whether in the workplace or more dangerous or volatile environments. Since 1990, 371 journalists and media workers have lost their lives on assignment.  The COVID-19 pandemic…

The presence of far-right parties in European politics has become more prominent, creating favorable conditions for Euroscepticism, xenophobia, and intolerance. According to a report published by the Index on Censorship with the support of the EFJ, it shows that journalists and media outlets are targeted in a kaleidoscopic array by political leaders, businesses and the general public. The report identified a trend in increasing political interference in the media. The first is direct interference in the operations of media outlets, either by politicians requesting editors or others involved in the production of news to alter or halt a story, or…

With the proliferation of the so-called “fake news”, rebuilding trust and  ensuring quality in journalism are becoming ever more important to fight against disinformation. How can journalists and media reach a diverse audience and provide trustworthy information to citizens to participate in the democratic processes and make informed choices? Meanwhile, the question of finding sustainable financing for journalism remains as a challenge. Today, journalists are working in an increasingly precarious condition – more workloads, longer hours and more demands on multiple skills. Without decent working conditions and sustainable financing models, quality journalism can barely thrive. The new project, Trust and…

Stars4Media is a training programme for European media organisations aiming at facilitating cooperation between media professionals (“rising stars”) to accelerate media innovation and cross-border coverage. Media professionals, media organisations and tech companies from EU countries have the chance to cooperate around bottom-up Initiatives to test ideas and technologies, develop new business models and produce journalistic content. Partners of the project are the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Europe’s Media Lab (Fondation EURACTIV), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The project is co-funded by the European Commission. Read more about the project team. You can learn here about the first…

The digital revolution is largely impacting the way journalists and media are producing and sharing news content. In this changing media landscape, self-regulatory bodies, which were created before the digital revolution for most of them, must adapt to the involving environment. This project aims at highlighting the important role of press and media councils in times of decreasing trust towards journalists and media outlets combined with increasing disinformation on new media. It will look at the digital challenges through 4 main components: academic work to provide data and analysis regarding existing press councils, awareness campaign to promote media self-regulation, visibility…

First meeting of the Steering Committee for the project “REBALANCE – Trade unions’ and social partners’ actions to improve reconciliation of work, family and private life for women and men”. Project Steering Members: – ETUC: Montserrat Mir, Cinzia Sechi, Mercedes Miletti, Kristian Bongelli – National members: Andreja Poje, ZSSS – Slovenia; Joa Bergold, LO – Sweden; Jessica van Ruitenburg, FNV – Netherlands; Christina Stockfish, DGB – Germany; Rosanna Ruscito, CISL – Italy; Pınar Özcan, HAK-IS – Turkey – European members: Ekaterina Efimenko, ETUCE; Myra Rednoss, IndustriALL; Amel Djemail, UNI; Inga-Lena Heinisch, ETF; Penny Clarke, EPSU; Kerstin Howald, EFFAT; Pamela Morinière,…

DIVERCITY: “Preventing and combating homo- and transphobia across Europe” The EFJ GS Ricardo Gutiérrez will deliver a training on “Reporting LGBT” to local journalists in Sabadell (Spain). LGBT people in the EU experience discrimination, harassment and violence in different areas of life. Homo- and transphobia in smaller and medium-sized cities has particular dynamics, as the access to resources for LGBT people may be more problematic due to the dimension of local agencies, the associative structure and the LGBT community. The DIVERCITY project intends to make a diagnosis of homo- and transphobia in six medium-sized cities in Europe, to exchange best…

With financial support from the EU and UNESCO, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is promoting freedom of expression and press freedom in South East Europe and Turkey. The project, entitled Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey, seeks to strengthen freedom of expression, access to information, free, independent and pluralistic media, ensuring that journalists and media are key drivers for democratic, sustainable and peaceful development in the region. The project is being implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, as well as in Kosovo (administered by the…

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…