To mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges world governments to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the world of work and help reduce the “unacceptable” level of violence against women journalists. Convention 190 was adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on 10th June 2019 and is now in the process of ratification by Member States. The IFJ and other Global Unions Federations have been battling for several years in support of a convention that would outlaw gender-based violence at work. According to IFJ statistics, 65% of women journalists have…

Politico Europe revealed on 2 March that internal emails were sent to Hungarian state media staff to inform about new editorial rules when reporting about Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, “sensitive topics” and when quoting human rights organisations’ reports. The instructions were dated from the second half of 2019. According to the emails, these new rules require staff to request permission before writing on Greta Thunberg and to send draft content for approval from “higher up” ahead of publication on migration, EU politics, terrorism, church issues. They also explicitly prevent journalists from mentioning reports from Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. The European Federation…

Download the joint statement Physical attacks, online harassment and censorship – In recent days, media freedom organisations have shed light on threats against journalists reporting on the arrival of migrants into Greece. These attacks are taking place in a context of violence against migrants and those supporting them, such as NGOs and self-organised groups. They restrict the ability of journalists to work safely and inform citizens about the humanitarian crisis taking place at the borders of the European Union (EU). A safe environment is essential for journalists to perform their role as watchdogs of democracy. The current situation in Greece…

Last week Swedish citizen and book publisher Gui Minhai was sentenced in China to ten years in prison for espionage. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in calling on the Chinese government to free Gui Minhai. Minhai is a book publisher who was running a publishing house in Hong Kong. He went missing in Thailand in October 2015 and later turned up imprisoned in China on suspicion of illegal business operation – the charges against him changed several times. According to media reports, a court in Ningbo said on Tuesday…

A number of journalists reporting about alleged funding from Hungary of media close to the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) has been facing attacks and threats to their life. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS) in condemning in the strongest terms the “intensive attacks” and calling on the authorities to guarantee a safe environment for journalists. The association has informed about repetitive attempts of discrediting journalists, smear campaigns, death threats, offensive messages on social media, on and offline harassment. The journalists’ association was itself targeted and claimed this wave of attacks is aimed…

March 1st marks a new chapter in the support for journalists under threat – it is the start of the Europe-wide rapid response mechanism (RRM) for violations of press and media freedom. The RRM is conducted by a consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig (ECPMF). The Mechanism is designed to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of press and media freedom in certain EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The consortium consists of the ECPMF, ARTICLE 19, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Institute for Applied…