Shortly before the collapse of the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition government in May this year, the independence of Austria’s public broadcaster ORF seemed seriously threatened. Government’s attempts to eliminate license fees, if successful, would make the ORF dependant on the government for budgetary decisions. This, in turn, would increase the risk of interference by government’s representatives in editorial decisions. Direct attacks against journalists, both online and offline, also reached unprecedented levels under the recent ÖVP-FPÖ government, raising concerns about media freedom in Austria. At the same time, journalists’ ability to access information about the government’s work was seriously affected by the government’s…

“Stand up for free independent media, Europe needs journalism”, says Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), with a passionate appeal to politicians and media representatives at the start of the 16th Journalists’ Day of the regional association of the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband of North Rhine Westphalia in Dortmund. The German Journalists’ Association (DJV-NRW) has invited about 500 women journalists* to the meeting under the motto “The future of journalism – now or never”. In his welcoming speech, Chairman Frank Stach invoked the innovative spirit of the early journalists and publishers and encouraged all members and journalists’ students,…

The fight against hate speech should take place in schools and in the media. This was the starting point of the EU-funded project Silence Hate, which ended with a European conference organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Monday 18 November in Brussels.  After two years and 5 national workshops in schools; 15 young journalists trained, 10 journalistic pieces produced (available online); and one module for journalists on how to report migration and counter hate speech; the final event concluded that the awareness raising work should be continued in a more systematic way.  “Journalists have an obligation to…

A coalition of six international press freedom organisations and journalists’ organisations will carry out a three-day mission to Hungary from November 25 to 27 to examine current developments related to the state of press freedom and media capture in the country. The mission will meet with Hungarian journalists and civil society groups. It will also hold discussions with the international spokesperson of the Hungarian government, Zoltán Kovács, as well as the newly elected mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony. Numerous reports have documented how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has successively silenced critical voices in the country while at the same…

The State Duma on 21st November adopted a law that expands the status of “foreign agents” to private persons, including bloggers and independent journalists: 311 MPs out of 315 voted in support of the initiative, no one voted against, four abstained. The bill now has to be approved by the parliament’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, before President Vladimir Putin signs it into the law. Russia’s legislation on “foreign agents” already covers nongovernmental organisations and media outlets that receive any amount of funding from foreign sources. It requires them to indicate their ‘foreign agent’ status in publications, and creates reporting…

Prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested on 20 November in connection with investigations into the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech was aboard a yacht, apparently trying to leave the country. Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, described Fenech as a “person of interest” in the case and said there was nothing pointing towards the involvement of members of his administration in the murder. He was released on bail on Thursday evening. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family welcomed the arrest, saying it was “overdue” and added: “we now expect the authorities to continue investigating the links our mother uncovered between…