The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) today to demand the Russian authorities to halt the advertising law entering into force on 1 January 2015 and prevent the closure of independent broadcaster TV-2. The new law that has been approved by President Vladimir Putin will affect many independent Russian television channels by stripping them off their main source of income – advertising revenues. “The new law will lead to many closures of media organisations, in particular small and medium-size independent media companies,” warns Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President, “This will lead to a…

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), an EFJ affiliate in the United Kingdom, has staged a protest today outside the Downing Street in London calling for press freedom in Turkey. Barry White, NUJ representative to the European Federation of Journalists  said “The government  must not remain silent to these abuses. Last year saw a drop in the number of journalists in prison, a welcome move, but this latest attack by the authorities shows that they have come back for more. We will continue to campaign for freedom of expression and the right to report by standing in solidarity with our…

The new issue of the EFJ Focus is now available in English. The German and the French version will soon be available.   To subscribe, simply click HERE. If you missed the previous issues, see our archives. (Photo Credit : Zaman UK Newspaper)

The EFJ has today welcomed in Brussels a delegation composed from the Turkish Publishers Association, the Swedish Publishers’ Association, the International Publishers Association and EMHRN. The working group’s agenda was focused on the legal framework in terms of freedom to publish in Europe, examples of restrictions and bans in the EU countries, the experience of European organizations in terms of freedom to publish in the context of the Western Balkans enlargement. The working group compared strategies, discussed concrete examples of advocacy tactics and ways to monitor the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has welcomed today the report on Hungary by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr. Nils Muižnieks, criticising the country’s bad media freedom records and calling for changes to the media law. Judit Acsay, the Vice-President of the EFJ affiliate in Hungary (MÚOSZ), says “the report accurately summarises the state of media freedom in Hungary. I hope this will put pressure on the government to push for changes.” The report published today (16/12/2014) after Mr. Muižnieks’s visit to Hungary in July 2014 has examined various aspects relating to human rights…

According to ALTER EU transparency campaigners [1], the proposal by the Juncker Commission – as part of its 2015 work plan announced today – to introduce a mandatory lobby register on the basis of an inter-institutional agreement is misleading because such an agreement will not be binding on lobbyists. A revised lobby register based on an inter-institutional agreement will lack mechanisms for verifying whether the information in the register is correct and will mean that there is no possibility to apply effective sanctions when incorrect information has been provided. This is the situation currently and a new inter-institutional agreement will…

Police forces in Turkey have today (14/12/2014) raided media outlets (Zaman newspaper and Samanyolu Television) known to be close to a US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. At least 23 people, including journalists and television producers, have been detained so far in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country and are apparently being accused of forming a criminal organization. Commenting this new operation, the Secretary General of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS, an EFJ affiliate) Mustafa Kuleli reminded that “this operation is performed just a few days before the first anniversary of the bribery and corruption scandal (known as “17 December”…

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LATEST UPDATE Please join our solidarity action and send your support letter to the Azerbaijani authorities in your country. Here’s the list of the Azerbaijani embassies around the world. The EFJ affiliate, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, responded to the EFJ call and sent a letter to the Norwegian Embassy of Azerbaijan calling on the authorities to release immediately investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. The EFJ affiliate, SDP, the Polish Journalists Association, joined the protest and sent a letter to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Grzegorz Schetyna , in which they appeal for public disapproval of the proceeding by the Azerbaijani authorities. EFJ also…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Polish Journalists Association (SDP) have welcomed the acquittal of two journalists, Jan Pawlicki and Tomasz Gzell who were arrested on 20 November during the coverage of a post-election demonstration in Warsaw. According to the EFJ affiliate, SDP, the police arrested TV reporter for TV Republika, Jan Pawlicki and the press photographer Tomasz Gzell of Polish Press Agency, in a demonstration where a group of activists entered and occupied the State Electoral Commission on 20 November. During the arrest, the journalists showed their press cards proving that they were not among the occupiers…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Russian Union of Journalists  (RUJ) today have condemned the Russian authorities for forcing the independent TV channel, TV Dozhd, out from its premises in Moscow. According to the EFJ affiliate, RUJ, this is the second time in a few months thatTV Dozhd has been evicted from its premises due to its critical reporting on the authorities and political figures. Earlier this year, TV Dozhd was forced off the air when it was dropped from the schedules of several Russian cable TV services. It is considered as the last independent voice broadcasting on a public frequency in Russia.…

The European Federation of Journalists’ (EFJ) President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, and the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) President, Jim Boumelha, signed today a “memorandum of understanding” on the creation of an online safety platform for journalists with the Council of Europe and three other media freedom partner agencies. The event took place during a conference jointly organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the French Senate at the Palais du Luxembourg, in Paris. Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Article 19 and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) also signed the memorandum. The conference has involved many…

(04.12.2014) English / Français en dessous – Freedom of expression must gain ground in Spain. This is the overall conclusion drawn by the International mission which is about to end in Madrid. For the first time, a consortium formed by the International Press Institute (IPI), Access Info Europe, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Association of Newspaper Publishers (WAN-IFRA ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) conducted a four-day mission, from 1 to 4 December, in Madrid and Barcelona, to evaluate the state of freedom of expression in…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) are alarmed by the creation of a government body to control information and the media in Ukraine. According to media reports, the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday 2 December has passed a proposal to create a new body called the Ministry of Information Policy with the aim of “confronting Russia’s formidable propaganda machine”. The government has appointed Mr. Yuriy Stets, a close ally to President Petro Poroshenko and the head of the Information Security Department of the National Guard of Ukraine, to lead the ministry. The EFJ and…

(03.12.2014) La Fédération Européenne des Journalistes (FEJ) se joint à l’action groupée de ses syndicats-membres, les syndicats français de journalistes (SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT journalistes) et le syndicat russe des journalistes (RUJ), et apporte son soutien aux journalistes travaillant sous droit local des bureaux de l’AFP en Russie et en Ukraine, dont les salaires ont été très sensiblement impactés par la chute du rouble. Les journalistes de ces bureaux ont demandé, avec l’appui des syndicats de l’AFP, une réévaluation de leurs conditions salariales avec un réajustement de la parité rouble-dollar pour faire face à la crise actuelle. La réponse de la…

The new issue of the EFJ Focus is now available in English, French and German. To subscribe, simply click HERE. If you missed the previous issues, see our archives.