Critics warn: proposed law could seriously undermine the independence of  public media Journalists and media freedom groups are urging Slovakia’s MPs to reject the proposed public service broadcasting bill scheduled for parliamentary review next week. Despite recent amendments to the bill, the new structure would lead to the politicization of the broadcaster in breach of the European Media Freedom Act. The public broadcasting bill aiming to replace Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) with a new entity, Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), will be discussed by the Parliament next week after its finalization by the government in May.  If passed…

The Supreme Court’s council decided on 10 April 2024, overturning the previous verdicts of the lower courts, which had determined that the Croatian Radiotelevision’s (HRT) 2018 decision to summarily terminate the employment contract of Hrvoje Zovko, the president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and then executive editor of HTV4, was unlawful and the termination unjustified. The Supreme Court concluded that the verbal altercation between Zovko and Katarina Periša Čakarun, the senior editor of HRT’s Informative Media Service, constituted “an attack on the employer, insults, and an assault on the honor and reputation of the employer,” and thus represented a…

The undersigned international media freedom, free expression, and journalist organisations call on the German authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the physical attack by Berlin police on Mexican video journalist Ignacio Rosaslanda while he was covering a police operation. The journalist who is working for the daily Berliner Zeitung was not only prevented from reporting and physically abused but was also arbitrarily detained for hours without medical care. We urge authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure that the attack does not go unpunished and strengthen the protection of journalists who are vulnerable targets during demonstrations.   On 23 May…

The long-running financial dispute between the national public broadcaster (BHRT) and the Federation of Public Broadcasters of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTV) is leading to an unprecedented media blackout of programs ordered by the BHRT board and dramatic working conditions for journalists and staff. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, together with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Journalists’ Association (BHJA), in urging the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to find a sustainable solution to ensure that the Public Broadcasting Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina receives sufficient funding to operate normally and to safeguard citizens’…

On the 20th anniversary of the murder of Montenegrin journalist Duško Jovanović, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the SafeJournalists Network and partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in calling for stronger action from the authorities. Journalists and media freedom organisations jointly condemn the two decades of impunity in the case of the murder of journalist Duško Jovanović and urge the Montenegrin authorities, both political representatives and relevant bodies, to take all necessary measures to identify and bring the perpetrators and masterminds to justice. Duško Jovanović was the founder, director, and chief editor of the daily newspaper…

The editorial office of the weekly magazine Nacional received death threats in an SMS message on Monday, 20 May 2024. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the SafeJournalists Network and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in calling on the relevant institutions in Croatia to immediately respond, find, and prosecute the perpetrator. The message sent to Nacional’s official phone contained the following text: “You and those like you carried out the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Fico by writing half-truths, lies, and inciting against people who are doing their jobs just to make money. Your triple informant paid…