This article was originally published in the journal “Public Value International”, volume 7: “Under Attack! Populism & Public Service Media”, Under Attack! Antidemokratischer Populismus und Medien (Östereichischer Rundfunk, ORF). Public service media is there to serve the public — the citizens, who fund them and to whom they owe responsibility, transparency, and trust. In times of democratic instability, the rise of populism, and increasingly frequent attacks on media freedom, public broadcasters should be the backbone of the media ecosystem – the strongest pillar – precisely because they do not – or less – rely on advertisers or politically influenced funding.…

The German trade union and journalists’ association DJV and dju inver.di have secured an average wage increase of 10.5 percent in three phases until the end of 2027 for daily newspaper workers. The agreement was reached in July 2025 after the tenth round of negotiations between the union and the publishers’ association BDZV, and applies retroactively from January 2025. The negotiations were accompanied by 36 nationwide strikes, which played a key role in reaching the agreement. Freelancers and young journalists will particularly benefit, with their salaries expected to increase by up to 16% over a three-year period. The German newspaper market,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Serbian members, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), and the Branch Trade Union of Culture, Arts and Media ‘Nezavisnost’ in expressing strong protest over a series of alarming cases indicating systematic retaliation and pressure against employees and freelance associates at Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), particularly those who have voiced their support and expressed opinions in favor of objective, professional, and legally grounded reporting. EFJ member organisations from Serbia have recorded multiple cases in which employees were punished, had their contracts terminated, or were placed…

The worsening situation in Gaza and the requests sent to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) by numerous journalists have prompted our federation, in coordination with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), to send the following letter to the European Commission. The EFJ suggests that its affiliates and all journalists who feel concerned send similar letters to their respective governments. Brussels, 24 July, 2025 Dear President von der Leyen, Dear Vice-President Kallas, Dear European Commissioners, We address you as representatives of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), representing 300,000 journalists in Europe, at a time when the world is witnessing one…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) in calling on authorities to guarantee funding for Kosovo’s public broadcaster RTK. For several months, RTK has been facing a severe financial crisis as a result of the deliberate failure of the Kosovo institutions to allocate the legally approved budget. The warning that RTK may run out of funding within days and be unable to pay its employees for the month of July is alarming. In the absence of a functional Parliamentary Assembly, the EFJ and AJK call on the Government of Kosovo to…

The Israeli government is deliberately using starvation as a weapon against the people of Gaza, including journalists and media workers, who are the only ones bearing witness to the atrocities amid Israel’s ban on foreign media. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in demanding that governments across the world, the United Nations General Assembly and the international community take urgent action to halt Israel’s human rights violations in Gaza, including restrictions on humanitarian aid and life-threatening danger that journalists are being exposed to. The Federations reiterate their call on the Israeli government to…