European Federation of Journalists

European Federation of Journalists

Project

Stand Up for Journalism

The media industry in Europe has been experiencing and adapting itself to a sea of changes in the past decades due to the digital transformation. While the media industry has adapted to these challenges, the situation took a drastic turn following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the industry has been severely hit. While the pandemic has accelerated these changes rapidly, journalists, the media, and journalists’ unions are yet to catch up with and adapt to the changes.

Against this background, this project has its general objectives to improve the capacity of national journalists’ unions and associations in addressing challenges brought by the digital transformation in the media; and the compounding impacts of Covid-19 pandemic as well as the recent economic, social and political crisis brought by the Russian-Ukraine war.

Fair and decent working conditions are far from the reality without stronger journalists’ unions and associations to defend the rights of journalists. Therefore, the focus of the project is on the capacity of journalists’ unions in collective bargaining, workers’ representation (especially freelance / atypical workers), and engaging in social dialogues. The target groups are journalists’ unions and associations in the EU and candidate countries.

These objectives will be achieved through four main activities :

1) A series of 5 thematic, capacity-building workshops. The themes of the workshops will focus on:

  • Collective bargaining in times of crisis (Istanbul, Turkey) – 23 – 24 September 2024
  • Equal rights for freelances (Vichy, France) – 23 – 24 January 2025
  • Online harassment and better protection of journalists (Belgrade, Serbia) – 31 March – 1 April 2025 
  • Well-being and burnout in journalism (Namur, Belgium) – 16 – 17 June 2025
  • Organising in the age of AI (Copenhagen, Denmark) – 6 – 7 November 2025
  • Final conference (Montenegro) – 26 – 27 March 2026

2) National capacity building-programmes with national partners who are chosen for their regional representativeness: NUNS (Serbia), TUMM (Montenegro), DJ (Denmark), TGS (Turkey), SNJ-CGT (France), AJP (Belgium). It aims to improve the capacity building of the partners with tailor-made programme to their needs. The national partners will produce and implement a national capacity-building plan focusing on key strategic issues (i.e. collective bargaining, organising/recruitment or social dialogue).

3) Two research studies. The objective is to identify relevant cases of European journalists who have experienced online harassment on online social platform and developing good practices and recommendations on the topics of mental health and burnout in journalism and online harassment to open social dialogues with online social platforms, policymakers, media managers and trade unions.

4) A final conference for a wider European exchange and dissemination.

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This project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Actions

EFJ to host workshop on journalists’ wellbeing and mental health in Namur, Belgium

  •    News
  •   01-06-2025
    • #suj

On 16-17 June 2025, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be hosting a workshop entitled “Mental wellbeing: an invisible crisis in journalism” in Namur, Belgium, as part of the Stand up for Journalism (SUJ) project in partnership with the Association of professional journalists (AJP, Belgium). The workshop will focus on  It will feature insightful speakers from across Europe, including journalists, media professionals, and experts. This workshop is the fourth in a series of five thematic capacity-building workshops. The first workshop was held in Istanbul in September 2024, addressing collective bargaining strategies for freelancers. The second took place in Vichy,…

SUJ: EFJ members trained to address online harassment of journalists

  •    News
  •   04-04-2025
    • #suj

The third ‘Stand Up for Journalism’ workshop was dedicated to the online safety of journalists and took place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 31 March – 1 April 2025. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) organised this event to support journalists’ organisations in addressing the rising threats journalists face, particularly online harassment and legal protections in the digital age. It was attended by 30 union representatives from 16 countries. One of the key topics was the increasing danger journalists face on social media platforms in Europe, exacerbated by the evolving digital media landscape.…

EFJ to host workshop on online safety of journalists in Belgrade, Serbia

  •    News
  •   25-03-2025
    • #suj

From 31 March to 1 April 2025, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be hosting a workshop entitled “Online Harassment and Protection of Journalists” in Belgrade, Serbia, as part of the Stand up for Journalism (SUJ) project in partnership with the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS). The workshop will focus on the growing issue of digital threats against journalists and explore strategies to strengthen their protection. It will feature insightful speakers from across Europe, including journalists, media professionals, and safety experts. This workshop is the third in a series of five thematic capacity-building workshops. The first workshop was…

SUJ: Meeting in Vichy, FREG publishes Declaration of Freelance Journalists in Europe to address the precariousness of the profession

“Collective bargaining for freelancers” was the topic of the second ‘Stand up for Journalism’ workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the French journalists’ union SNJ-CGT in Vichy, France, on 23-24 January 2025. Thirty-six union representatives and journalists discussed the challenges specific to the self-employed, such as collective negotiations, copyright, and the European legal frameworks.  Freelance journalists are no longer an exception in the media landscape in Europe and many unions that were previously unable to represent them have changed their rules to enable them to do so. Participants have expressed that freelancer is less and less…

Declaration of Freelance Journalists in Europe

Recognising the indispensable role freelance journalists play in informing the public, upholding democracy and maintaining editorial independence, we, the representatives of freelance journalists in Europe, unite in calling for action to address the precariousness of our profession. This Declaration outlines the fundamental measures necessary to ensure fair working conditions, equal treatment and suitable livelihoods for freelance journalists across Europe. Through their independence, freelance journalists are vital to democracy and the free flow of information.  Dignified Working Conditions Freelance journalists are integral members of the journalistic profession, entitled to safe and equitable working conditions. Employers must eliminate practices of “fake freelance”…

EFJ to host workshop on collective bargaining for freelancers in Vichy, France

  •    News
  •   20-01-2025
    • #suj

From 23 to 24 January 2025, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be hosting a workshop entitled “Collective bargaining for freelancers” at the Centre Culturel de Vichy, France, as part of the Stand up for Journalism(SUJ) project in partnership with the French union SNJ-CGT. The workshop will address the different challenges related to collective bargaining regarding the special condition of freelancers, with insightful speakers from all around Europe. This workshop is the second in a series of five thematic capacity-building workshops. The first workshop was organised in Istanbul in September 2024, where speakers and participants from Turkey and all…

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