The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today strongly condemn the attack on the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO) by Covid-19 deniers and anti-vaccination protesters last Friday.  At around 8:30pm on 3 September 2021, protesters broke into the RTVSLO studio in Ljubljana. The group of about 20 protesters, believed to be from the OPS group (Aware Residents of Slovenia), entered the building and managed to break into a newsroom. The group was demanding airtime on RTVSLO platforms to share their anti-vaccine views and an end to what they alleged was…

ABOUT THE COURSE  The safety of journalists has become ever more important in recent years with an increasing number of journalists facing threats, harassment and injuries in relation to their daily work. While some threats require a broader political and cultural change among multi-stakeholders, others can be mitigated by individuals and organisational level by journalists and media organisations. With this in mind, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) has developed this course to address individual journalists with the aims to enhance their personal capacities in making aware of operational media associated…

The undersigned organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express serious concern over the Molotov cocktail attack on the home of journalist Willem Groeneveld in Groningen last night. We welcome the prompt response of the Dutch authorities to carry out a police investigation. Our organisations call on the authorities to analyse the safety measures that were in place, to establish the motive of the attack and to bring those responsible to justice. Coming so soon after the fatal shooting of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam in July, this potential attempted murder represents another serious…

Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese business mogul, has been indicted for the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 and will face a trial by jury on a date yet to be set. Fenech faces charges of complicity in murder and criminal association. So far, Vince Muscat has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder earlier this year. Two further alleged hitmen, the brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio will also face trial. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes Fenech’s indictment and urges the Maltese authorities to finally end impunity and punish everyone involved…

UPDATE 11/08/21 Lex TVN was passed with 228 MPs in favour, 216 against and 10 abstentions. The EFJ and IFJ call on the Senate to reject the bill, and the European Union to counter the attack on the independence of TVN channels. ————————- The Polish parliament is discussing measures to ban non-European owners from controlling more than a 49% stake in Polish media companies. The move, dubbed the “lex TVN”, represents a direct attack on the critical and independent US-owned TVN and TVN24. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are urging the members…

A team of the Turkish TV channel Halk TV was attacked in the İçmeler area of Marmaris. The aggressors threatened to block the channel’s live broadcast from the fire-hit region and a cameraman was targeted with a broken glass bottle. This incident occurred after a recent threat by the government-controlled RTÜK (Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council) to TV stations over their critical coverage of the wildfires, which have been raging across the country for the past few days. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Turkish affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC), the Journalists’ Association (GCD) and the Broadcast and Printing…