The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and their affiliates in Russia, JMWU, and in the United States, NewsGuild-CWA, call on Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich, detained on Thursday in Yekaterinburg. He could face up to 20 years in prison as the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) says he was “collecting classified information”. Gershkovich is the first reporter for a US news outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the cold war. On 30 March, the FSB stated that it had…

On 13 September 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that: “We need to better shield ourselves from malign interference. This is why we will present a Defence of Democracy package. It will bring covert foreign influence and shady funding to light. We will not allow any autocracy’s Trojan horses to attack our democracies from within.” The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined 45 organisations based in Europe and active in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, in issuing recommendations for an ambitious Defence of Democracy package, for a wide view of how…

Legal intimidation and SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are attempts to intimidate and silence public watchdogs through lengthy and expensive litigation proceedings by starting meritless lawsuits. These threats mostly target civil society actors participating in public debates, including human rights advocates, whistle-blowers, climate activists and even academics more broadly. Under the pretext of seeking justice or protecting their rights, those who start these actions only seek to drain them from their resources (time and money) and force them to self-censor. These abusive tactics have become a very effective way to repress dissent and limit the public’s access to truthful…

Today, 27 March 2023, security guard Pal Kola, 60, was shot dead by unknown assailants on the premises of the leading national TV station Top Channel, where he was stationed in a booth outside the building​​. The heinous attack took place around one o’clock in the morning. State police have since established a dedicated investigative team and are working closely with the Prosecutor’s Office to actively pursue the perpetrators. A car suspected to have been used in the crime was found burned out a few kilometres away from the crime, together with two Kalashnikov rifles. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the…

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…

The article was originally published here. The concept of news deserts was initially developed by US scholars and policymakers to explain the crisis of traditional news media and the vanishing of local news outlets as a consequence of the digital transformation and the 2008 global economic crisis. In an attempt to provide a definition for this concept, some authors have focused on digital accessibility by measuring the availability of broadband and wireless technology in local communities. A second group have focused on linguistic and cultural barriers that leave ethnic communities marginalized and disenfranchised, whereas a third group have concentrated on the quality…