Three journalists from Finland’s largest national daily Helsingin Sanomat were charged on 29 October 2021 with “attempted disclosure of a security secret” and face jail term. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Finland, the Finnish Journalists’ Union (UJF), in expressing solidarity with the journalists and condemning Finland’s deputy prosecutor general’s decision to prosecute them. Laura Halminen, Tuomo Pietiläinen and Kalle Silfverberg face four months to four years in prison for publishing in December 2017 an article about the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency (VKoeL), at a time when a constitutional change gave the Finnish security services increased surveillance…

On 25 and 26 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) hosted a two-day webinar session on “Trust in the Media: Photojournalism in the Digital Age”, the last in a series of five as part of the “Trust and Quality in Journalism” project, in partnership with the European Commission. Day 1 of the webinar was moderated by Yuk Lan Wong with two experts, Lars Boering, director of the European Journalism Center (EJC) and Anna Gordon, freelance photographer in the UK. The session was kicked off by the national partner, Radomir Kračković, Vice-President of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).…

On Wednesday 6 October the European Parliament published a report for the European Commission titled Media in the Digital Decade: An Action Plan to Support Recovery and Transformation drafted by rapporteur Dace Melbārde. The report was adopted on Tuesday 19 October by the Parliament. It was voted in the Plenary with no changes as to the version voted in the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT.) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this report and the recommendations it put forward. The EFJ insists on the need for the European Commission to ensure that  all Member States quickly put in…

Staff members of the Belarusian political weekly newspaper Novy Chas were searched by the authorities, temporarily detained and interrogated on 19 and 20 October. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in calling on the authorities to stop persecuting journalists and media outlets in the country. On 20 October in the morning, Novy Chas employees could not be reached, before BAJ later reported that journalists’ homes and the editorial offices were being searched. Novy Chas editor-in-chief Aksana Kolb and deputy editor Siarhei Pulsha were interrogated and later released. On 19 October, the house of Novy Chas photographer Dzmitry Dzmitryjeu was searched and all his equipment confiscated. According to Novy…

On 5 October 2021, a new law went into effect in Armenia, raising the maximum threshold for “insults” and “defamation” fines by three times their previous amount. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined their affiliate the Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA) in denouncing this law and its impact on the right of freedom of expression. The defamation law was adopted by the National Assembly in March 2021 after a Facebook user posted a comment regarded as offensive on a picture of the Prime Minister. The law was validated by the Constitutional…

Recent years have seen worrying political developments across both old and new democracies, ranging from the rise of populist leaders and dwindling support for democratic rule to the growing polarization of public opinion. The phenomenon has been studied by The Illiberal Turn project, in which the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is involved. The project launched a report called “Rebuilding trust and countering polarization in (post)pandemic times (Recommendations for media policies and journalistic practices from the Illiberal Turn project.)” The report was funded by the British  Economic and Social Research Council and presented during the EFJ Annual Meeting in Zagreb…