On 1 June 2017 in Brussels, after 24 hours of detention and 3,818 kilometres from Gaziantep, the family and friends of Mathias Depardon, the French journalist imprisoned in Turkey, came together to form a Belgian support committee. Mathias Depardon lived in Brussels for around ten years and completed his journalistic and photography studies there. The Belgian committee welcomed the interview that took place on 25 May between the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is regarded as a first step in the right direction. Further to this meeting, an initial consular visit took place…

The Bosnia and Herzegovina public service broadcaster (BHRT), the EFJ affiliate, the Bosnia -Herzegovina Journalists Association (BHN), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) call on Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities to undertake urgent measures to save national public service media (PSM) in BiH. The above mentioned organisations urge BiH authorities to ensure political consensus about the importance of existing independent and professional national PSM in BiH, to find sustainable solutions for the funding of PSM, to undertake immediate amendments of the existing legislation and support the national public…

Twenty-five journalists from 12 countries gathered in Zagreb (Croatia) on 26 and 27 May to attend a workshop on the theme “Reporting Refugees, Migrants, Ethnicity” co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA). Journalists gathered at the workshop on reporting refugees in Zagreb. #mediaagainsthate pic.twitter.com/KhrkjXHR6I — Gašper Andrinek (@Caspersek) May 26, 2017 Croatia had little contact with migrants from the Middle East until 2015. But the country is now welcoming some migrants and the media, as well as the population, are experiencing some difficulties in dealing with it. The participants, all working on migration issues in their own countries, were given…

Basin-Sen (Turkish Cypriots’s Press Workers’ Trade Union, an EFJ-IFJ affiliate) announced the signature of a new collective agreement with Northern Cyprus’ biggest online daily newspaper Kibris Postasi. “This is a very important step taken by Kibris Postasi newspaper as this gives a momentum and is seen as an example to repeat for the entire press workers. We thank the managers of the newspaper for this output and we want to thank all the journalists and media workers for standing for the social rights. As Basin-Sen, we will be working to achieve similar results through collective bargaining in other media outlets”, said Canan Onurer,…

The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (the RUJ), in condemning the murder of Dmitry Popkov, co-founder and editor-in-chief of local newspaper Ton-M based in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia. Dmitri Popkov was shot dead in the town of Minusinsk on 24 May, 2017, reports Index’s Mapping Media Freedom. The regional investigative committee reported that Popkov was shot five times by an unidentified perpetrator. His body was found in the sauna in his backyard. Popkov is well known in his region since he became a regional parliament deputy for the Communist Party.…

What kind of journalism will be done in the future, what sorts of platforms will be used and where will the money come from? What will be the role of freelancers and entrepreneurs in this changing situation? Those are some of the questions that will be discussed at the Nordic Freelance Seminar on 15–16 September in Helsinki at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Suomenlinna island. It is hosted by the Finnish Freelance Journalists Association (Suomen freelance-journalistit ry) and aimed at Nordic freelancers only. Participants will also talk about new skills freelancers and entrepreneurs should learn, the relationship between the…