European Federation of Journalists

IFJ-EFJ Regional Development Fund

Czech Republic

 

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) signed an agreement on 18 December 2014 with the Union of Journalists and Media Workers of Czech Republic (OSNPM) in order to investigate the working conditions of Czech journalists and media workers. The project is implemented with the cooperation of Judith Reitstatter, from the Austrian union GPA-djp.

The online survey was launched on 19 May 2015. Around 2,500 journalists and media workers were invited to participate to the survey. The EFJ, OSNPM and GPA-djp analysed together the main outcomes of the survey during a round table conference, on 19 August 2015, in Prague.

The questionnaire focus mainly on labour rights. “This area is underestimated by the Czech media, journalists themselves and their employers as well,” explains Zdeněk Kučera, chairman of OSNPM.

“Over the past 25 years, journalists’ attention was focused primarily toward freedom of speech, access to information, relations with media ownership and the development of media houses. These are very serious topics. However, journalists’ status remained grossly underrated. A specific problem is the status of freelance journalists, which are increasingly numerous, particularly in regional media.”

The main findings of the survey are available on the EFJ website, here.

FOCUS EFJ

Side event of our project: a high school magazines national competition (Nejinspirativnější středoškolský časopis 2015). Here are the winners (picture credit: F. Cakl):

Czech

Contact details: OSNPM, e-mail: odborovy-svaz-novinaru@seznam.cz, website: http://www.odborovysvaznovinaru.cz

 

Slovakia

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), its Austrian union GPA-djp and the Slovak Union of Journalists (Slovenský syndikát novinárov) organized a meeting in Vienna, on 30 October 2014. Trade unionists and media students from both countries met in GPA-djp offices, in Vienna. The discussion on media convergence was launched by Dr. Roman Hummel, from the university of Salzburg.

Contact details: Judith Reitstaetter, judith.reitstaetter (at) gpa-djp.at

 

Estonia

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Estonian Union of Journalists (Eesti Ajakirjanike Liit, EAL) and the Union of Journalists in Finland (Suomen Journalistiliitto, UJF) agreed on 6 February 2015 to jointly implement the project “Workshops to Strengthen Journalists’ organisation in Estonia”.

The main objective of the project is to strengthen journalists’ organisation in Estonia, through three activities:

  • a freelance workshop in Helsinki,
  • a radio & TV negotiators workshop in Helsinki,
  • an authors’ rights seminar in Tallinn.

An action plan will be proposed for the next period.

Contact details: Juha Rekola, Juha.Rekola (at) journalistiliitto.fi, and Helle Tiikmaa, helle (at) eal.ee

 

Actions

Killing of journalists: European politicians must take us seriously

Today, it is one year since journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb for exposing corruption in Malta. Those who ordered the murder still enjoy impunity. Following the silent vigil held in her honour, in front of the Residence Palace in Brussels, the EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez demands concrete actions from political decision-makers: The EFJ calls on the Maltese government to respond positively to the request of the family of Ms Caruana Galizia to establish an independent public inquiry conducted by a panel of respected international judges, retired judges and/or qualified individuals with no political or government links. The EFJ…

Malta: one year after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing, impunity remains

On 16 October 2017, Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by a car bomb in the town of Bidnija, near her family home. One year after, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) deplore the lack of independent public inquiry and the unwillingness of the Maltese government to take concrete action to end impunity around this crime. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a 53 year-old prominent investigative journalist who kept a blog labelled Running Commentary, one of the most widely read websites in Malta. The journalist had been targeted and sued many times for her writings in which…

European journalists call for equal rights and treatment for freelances

In a workshop gathering around 50 journalists and journalists’ representatives from all over Europe has called on national government and European institutions to ensure legal protection for freelance journalists so that they can enjoy equal rights and treatment. The workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Swedish Journalists Union (SJF) on 10 & 11 October in Stockholm has highlighted that while freelance journalists are growing across Europe, their working conditions and labour rights are lagging behind. “Freelance journalists are often being exploited with meagre payment and little rights”, this was the sentiment expressed by the participants…

New report shows that law often denies rights to self-employed workers

This article was originally published on the ETUC website: Despite a steady increase in the number of self-employed workers – who now represent 1 in 10 of all workers – the self-employed are denied the rights enjoyed by employees reveals a new report by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). ‘Trade unions protecting self-employed workers’ published today by the ETUC shows that self-employed workers are not allowed by law from joining trade unions in some European countries, cannot negotiate standard rates and working conditions through collective bargaining in many EU member states – supposedly due to due EU competition law, do…

Brussels: Silent vigil in front of Residence Palace to honour Daphne Caruana Galizia, 16 October, 12:00

The European Federation of Journalists invites you to join the silent vigil organized by Daphne Caruana Galizia‘s family and friends in Brussels. Here is their invitation to us: On 16 October 2017, the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in broad daylight in a car bomb outside her home in Malta. Daphne was investigating and exposing cases of corruption at the highest levels of government. Since then, three suspected contract killers have been apprehended but there is still no trace of who sent them and why — and it is not clear whether enough is being done to find…

International coalition calls for independent public inquiry for the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia

Prior to the anniversary of the murder of the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today joined a coalition of international organisations calling for a public inquiry into the her murder. The 26 international media freedom and journalists’ organisations have published an open letter to the Maltese Prime Minister, Mr. Joseph Muscat. The letter reads: Dear Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, I write to you on behalf of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and 25 organisations (listed below) representing thousands of journalists and human rights activists concerning Malta’s response…