European Federation of Journalists

Media Freedom Rapid Response

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a partner of Media Freedom Rapid Response project (MFRR) aiming to promote an independent, pluralistic media landscape, to safeguard media workers, especially harassed female media workers and to protect the rights of journalists. The RRM helps to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of media freedom in several European Union, Member States and Candidate Countries.

Overall Objective

The overall objective of this project is to provide practical support for journalists to improve media freedom in Europe.

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is designed to detect, answer and prevent violations of press and media freedom. It consists of three layers: monitoring, categorisation, responses.

Specific objectives

1. Mapping Media Freedom (MMF) in Europe (EU & Candidate Countries): Media violations are on the rise especially under the current coronavirus crisis. One of the key components of the project is to monitor and document a wide range of media violations conducted by any actors, whether individuals, state actors or business, so that actions can be taken rapidly to address the violations.

2. Practical supports: Based on the media violations reported, the project offers a wide range of immediate to long-term, practical support ranging from legal help, safety advice and training, safe house for journalists, advocacy and mission, and online resources. You could find more information about the legal support here and more details about safe house for journalists here.

3. Advocacy & Trial Monitoring: Joint media advocacy will also be carried out by the project including joint statements, national missions (in Czech Republic, Hungry, Spain, Serbia), roundtable advocacy meetings with EU policy-makers. The EFJ will involve the relevant national members when carrying out such national missions. Trial Monitoring especially for Turkey, Malta (for the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia) and Slovakia (for the case of Ján Kuciak) will be carried out and participated by the project partners to help find justice for journalists who are put in jails or murdered.

Anyone can submit and report a media violation to the MMF platform online.

Actions

EFJ to join press freedom mission to Italy

From 4 to 6 April, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in Italy for a fact-finding mission focused on two main topics: safety of journalists and state protection measures on one side, and SLAPPs against journalists and the need for comprehensive legislative reforms of the framework of defamation and media freedom on the other.  In collaboration with local partners, including the Italian National Federation of Journalists (FNSI), the journalists’ association Articolo 21 and the Chamber of Journalists, the MFRR delegation will address these issues from different perspectives and with…

New MFRR report finds systemic challenges to press freedom in Greece

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT   On 28 March 2022, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) published the report “Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece”, which details the findings and recommendations of its online fact-finding mission to Greece. The mission, involving interviews with more than thirty local stakeholders, was implemented by the MFRR partners, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with Reporters Without Borders in December 2021. The partner organisations conclude that challenges to the independence of the media and the safety of journalists are systemic in the country. While the problems are not unique, their intensity…

MFRR publishes new report: “Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece”

On 28 March 2022, the Media Freedom Rapid Response will publish the report of its online fact-finding mission to Greece that took place in December. Under the title ‘Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece’, the report reflects the mission’s findings and recommendations on: The assassination of Giorgos Karaivaz; Polarisation of a fragmented media landscape; Reporting on migration; Reporting on protests; and, Legal threats. The report will be launched with an online panel on 28 March at 2pm CEST (=3pm EEST) with: Laurens Hueting, Senior Advocacy Officer of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) Iliana Papangeli, Managing Director of…

Join the MFRR Summit 2022 “Boosting Press Freedom” on 22-24 March

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) invites you to a summit taking place between 22-24 March focusing on boosting media freedom, strengthening independent media and ensuring the safety of journalists in Europe. The Summit panels will all be streamed online on the MFRR YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Specialised workshops for journalists, media professionals, journalist association representatives, and journalism students will take place on Zoom. Registration for the workshops is required. The MFRR Summit 2022 will open with a video message by Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, followed by a keynote address by Roberto Saviano, an Italian journalist and…

Monitoring Report: Increasing Pressures on Media Freedom in Europe in 2021

Today the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in launching our annual report documenting our organisations’ systematic monitoring of media freedom violations across Europe in 2021. Between January and December 2021, a total of 626 alerts were documented on the Mapping Media Freedom platform across EU Member States, candidate countries and the United Kingdom – ranging from physical attacks to SLAPP lawsuits and online harassment. A total of 1,063 individuals or media entities in 30 countries were subject to one or more press freedom violations, including the murder of three journalists – underscoring the…

Croatian journalist convicted of damaging judge’s reputation

On 2 February, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) has voiced dismay after the Rijeka Municipal Court sentenced Novi list journalist Dražen Ciglenečki to a fine of 30 days’ income for statements made on former Zagreb County Court President and now High Criminal Court Judge Ivan Turudić in one of his columns. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Croatian affiliate in condemning the continuous pressure on journalists and media freedom in the country through the use of criminal and civil laws. The case dates back to 2014 when the journalist Dražen Ciglenečki published in the daily Novi list a…