Who I am I am a freelance journalist based in Thessaloniki, Greece. I mainly work with foreign Media, and I also run the website humanstories.gr. I am also a member of the board of the Journalists Union of Macedonia and Thrace (ESIEMTH). I started as a sports journalist working for TV and the daily newspaper of a powerful Greek Media outlet that collapsed in 2015, and I found myself unemployed. Instead of just waiting for a job offer, I decided to start producing stories about migration, a topic that at the time took a very sensitive and difficult turn in…

Who I am My name is Renske Heddema. I’ve been a journalist reporting from Switzerland for Dutch and Belgian media since 1996. Working as a freelance correspondent far from the newsroom, always available to a wide range of publishers and broadcasters, I felt isolated. Joining NVJ was like finding an anchor. I served on the NVJ board from 2016 and was its president from 2020 to 2023. Before moving abroad, I worked as a journalist in the Netherlands, producing weekly radio programs on arts and literature and writing for various newspapers and magazines. I also served as a media policy…

My priorities for the EFJ One of the most important issues in Europe is the funding of public service broadcasting. This problem is particularly acute in Eastern Europe. In Estonia, public service broadcasting works well, but very painful cuts have had to be made in the last year. Even the relatively wealthy Finnish public service broadcaster YLE has had to make serious cuts. It is very important that the EFJ Steering Committee seeks solutions for developing a sustainable funding model for public service broadcasting. It is equally important that public service and private media find ways to cooperate so that…

Who I am Journaliste depuis près de trente ans, j’ai principalement travaillé pour des médias vénézuéliens, français ou francophones, en radio et presse écrite. Installé depuis 20 ans à Vichy, j’ai travaillé en presse locale, enseigné le journalisme et participé à des projets culturels pour l’accueil des réfugiés. Désormais je suis journaliste pigiste pour la Gazette des communes et Le Courrier des maires, des médias spécialisés dans les politiques publiques locales. Je suis secrétaire général du SNJ-CGT depuis juin 2024, ainsi que négociateur de branche et délégué syndical élu en entreprise. I am professional journalist since nearly thirty years, I…

My priorities for the EFJ Over the past three years, as President of the European Federation of Journalists, I’ve had the honour of working with great, brave people and witnessing incredible solidarity in these difficult and crisis-filled times. Conflicts, the war in Ukraine, rising violence against journalists, attacks on media freedom, lack of trust in journalism, technological change, and ever-present political pressure—it’s hard even to list all the fronts on which journalism is under attack. But what guided us and made sense of it all was the spirit of unity among EFJ members. We reacted, protected our colleagues, empowered our…

Who I am I’m an Istanbul-based journalist for more than 25 years, holding a master’s degree in human rights law. A member of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey since 2006. I was elected as the Istanbul chair of the union in 2019. After serving for a term, I was elected as the General Secretary in 2023. Also teaching reporting and news writing at the university.  Despite being a member of TGS for many years, my dismissal from daily Hürriyet Newspaper, where I had been working for 23 years, marked the beginning of my journey in TGS. The reason I was…