Today, the International Press Institute (IPI), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), Reporters without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called for an immediate end to the ban on public advertising on the two independent newspapers Evrensel and BirGün. Both newspapers are part of a shrinking club of media that have stubbornly resisted pressure to curb their independent journalism and readiness to criticize the authorities. Since September they have been subjected to indefinite bans imposed by BIK (Basin Ilan Kurumu), the agency responsible for the distribution of the state advertising budget.…

NEW DEADLINE TO APPLY: 20 MAY Application form Are you a young media professional eager to gain skills, boost your career, test your ideas, and expand your network? Stars4Media is an exchange and training programme for young media professionals (“rising stars”) between cooperating media organisations, to accelerate media innovation and cross-border coverage in Europe.  Stars4Media will encourage innovation through skill-building activities between paired media organisations to test ideas, produce contents and develop initiatives around 4 strategic themes.  Who are we looking for ? Participants of this project will be young working media professionals (“rising stars”) with 2-10 years of media…

A court extended the provisional detention of Daghestani newspaper Chernovik’s editor Abdulmumin Gadzhiev until 13 March 2020. The Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) called on the authorities for his immediate release, given that the charges against him are baseless. Gadzhiev was arrested on 14 June 2019 by the security services of the Republic of Dagestan on terrorism charges. According to JMWU, the case is based on a testimony of a witness obtained under torture. Abdulmumin Gadzhiev faces up to 20 years in prison. As the Russian government systematically prohibits all forms of protest, except solitary pickets, journalists in solidarity from…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today released its annual report of killings of journalists, detailing 49 deaths worldwide in 2019 (including two in Europe). The world’s largest organisation of journalists reiterated its call for a real commitment by governments to fight impunity for crimes committed against journalists and for media employers to provide safety training, insurance and equipment for their staff in the field. On 31 December 2019, the IFJ published its list of media workers killed in the line of duty, showing 49 journalists killed in 2019, including three women, half as many as in previous years. The report, published on 4 February, provides…

2019 was a terrible year for press cartoons, according to Courrier International. The ‘New York Times affair’, the numerous trials against cartoonists and the greater precariousness of the profession showed that their working conditions are deteriorating. As we marked the fifth anniversary of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Cartooning for Peace, an international network of press cartoonists, has published a guide intended to cartoonists facing specific or persistent threats. The publication is meant to be very practical as it includes advices, testimonies and useful resources to help cartoonists around the world 1) to assess the risks and 2) to identify…

The Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) hold a press conference today in Skopje to announce their new collaboration with Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, NGO Onlimit Media and Vidi Vaka portal, on two major texts for journalists’ labour rights. The four parties signed the Charter on journalists’ working conditions and the draft Fair Working Contract for journalists and media workers in digital media. By doing so, they commit to respect all journalists’ and media workers’ labour rights, their freedom of expression as well as ethical and professional standards.…