The Jesuit Refugee Service is today launching a competition to encourage Student Journalists to examine and report the truth about the refugee situation in Europe.
It is inviting aspiring journalists to investigate the reality behind the headlines concerning refugees and asylum seekers. Three winners will be invited to Brussels to meet with the members of the jury who are all experienced journalists in this area. The overall winner will be offered the opportunity to visit Kenya for 12 days in the summer of 2006 to broaden his/ her knowledge of asylum and refugees issues. JRS Eastern Africa will organise meetings with refugees, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local media, in…
Free expression groups from around the world gathering in Brussels today at the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) conference pledged themselves to confront a “growing number of attacks against the media”.
“It’s no news to anyone here that the war on terror has put freedom of expression under threat” said Christopher Warren, the International Federation of Journalists’ President, in his opening speech. “Freedom of expression is in retreat in too many emerging democracies. However, in mature democracies, governments are also tightening access to information, restricting coverage in the name of national security and broadening…
The International Federation of Journalists is pressing international leaders at the level of the European Union and the United Nations to use their influence on the governments of Algeria, Jordan, the Yemen and Syria to free journalists who have been arrested or detained for publishing cartoons which have caused outrage in some Muslim communities around the world.
“At a time when international tensions are high, particularly in the Middle East, it is appalling that journalists are being jailed for carrying out professional duties,” said Christopher Warren, IFJ President, on the eve of the opening of a world conference of press freedom groups in Brussels this weekend.…
The Executive Committee of U.S. MediaSind decided to resume the actions of protest towards the political class refuse to come with a solution to the depoliticizing problem of the public radio and television. The fourth project of law initiated by the President of the Parliamentary Commission for Culture, Arts and Mass-Media, Raluca Turcan, instead of decreasing the politicians’ number in the Administration Boards, reduces the number of the employees’ representatives, being practically an attack to the employees’ rights and freedom. Through the tergiversation of this law appearance, the conflicts between the employees and the leadership of the Romanian Radio Society have worsened.…
Putting Journalism to Rights
Unions’ Role in a New Media Landscape
EFJ Annual Meeting
Bled, 7-9 April 2006
This year’s Annual Meeting took place in Bled (Slovenia) on April 7-9. Under the title “Putting Journalism to Rights, Unions’ Role in a New Media Landscape” the delegates of the EFJ discussed challenges to independent quality journalism by corporate interests, increasingly hostile employers, European Union attempts to undermine independent journalism, freelance rights as well as press freedom issues focusing on Belarus, Turkey, and the Ukraine. It also denounced the behaviour of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA)…
Free expression groups from around the world will be meeting in Brussels, Belgium, next week at the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) conference, being hosted by the IFJ, to discuss ways they can build effective campaigns to confront the growing threats to freedom of expression and press freedom.
Running from 19 to 24 February 2006, the conference will bring together more than 100 free expression activists, including members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, from across the globe under the theme "Acting Together to Defend Free Expression".
The conference will feature six panel discussions on the most pressing issues facing the free…
The International Federation of Journalists denounced today the arrest of the publishers of Errissala (The Letter) and Essafir (The Ambassador) after they reprinted cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Postens which have led to protests from Muslim communities around the world.
The two weeklies were suspended. Last week the publisher of the weekly Iqra (Read) was jailed and the paper suspended for the same reason. The row over the publications led to the calling of a disciplinary council of the Directors of TV channels A3 and Canal Algérie, which are affiliated to the State TV (ENTV). Both were demoted from their responsibilities and positions.
“These…
Breaking the strangle-hold that some governments still have on key media is a key to creating an independent and democratic media culture around the Mediterranean, the International Federation of Journalists told a round table meeting of experts in Cairo at the weekend. "Some governments insist on keeping media – particularly the national broadcasting systems – under a tight rein and this demoralizes journalists and restricts the capacity for independent reporting" said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, at the meeting called to discuss practical ways of promoting co-operation between media in European Union countries and states bordering the Mediterranean. “The…
Delegates representing journalists from around Iraq have agreed the key points in a new charter of rights for journalists and media and are calling on the new government in Baghdad to take action to protect journalists and to give priority to policies that will strengthen the freedom of media.
A conference of Iraqi journalists, editors and media experts, meeting in Egypt on Saturday, adopted a draft text for a Charter of rights that will be discussed further within Iraqi media and which will then be converted into specific demands for laws that will strengthen journalists’ rights.
The meeting, organised by the International Federation of Journalists in co-operation with…
The campaign for the decriminalising of defamation in Indonesia took a giant step forward with the Supreme Court decision on February 9 to clear Tempo Magazine chief editor, Bambang Harymurti of all charges of criminal defamation.
“This is a great result for the campaign for press freedom in Indonesia,” said International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) president Christopher Warren.
On February 9, 2006, a panel of three justices, led by Chief Justice Bagir Manan, ruled unanimously that the Press Law should be used to hear defamation cases against journalists instead of the Criminal Law thus overturning earlier decisions by the High Court of Jakarta and the Regency Court…
Today the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) called on media unions throughout Europe to support Italian journalists who come from all over Italy to participate in a demonstration /press conference in Turin at the occasion of the opening of the Olympic Winter Games. It will be an occasion to inform journalists covering the games from all over the world of the severe situation Italian journalists are faced with.
The European Federation of Journalists affiliate the FNSI, which represents both newsroom staff in print and broadcasting sectors, organised this demonstration after a continuing stand still in the difficult negotiation with the publishers over the renewal of the…
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The International Federation of Journalists has criticised reports that the European Union may be preparing a code of conduct for media in the wake of the worldwide row over cartoons published in European newspapers that offended many Muslims.
“Reports that the European Union is getting into the business of trying to prepare an ethical code for journalists are plain wrong,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “We have already made it clear to Brussels officials that this will be unacceptable to everyone in media and they have agreed to encourage a professional dialogue but not to start drawing up codes or guidelines. That is the responsibility of media…
Understanding the Levels of Empowerment of Women in the Workplace in India
A recently released study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) revealed that women constitute only a very small percent of the employment force in companies. Only six per cent of the total number of employees working in medium and large scale industries constitute women, with 18 per cent in medium and four per cent in large companies, according to the study entitled Understanding the Levels of Women Empowerment in the Workplace, released on December 14, 2005.
The incidence of women employed at managerial levels of companies was only 16 per cent at junior levels, 4 per cent each at the middle and…
The Coexistence of Human Rights
International seminar between cartoonists postponed
Editorial use of Mohammed cartoons allowed
Guidelines for use of the twelve Mohammed cartoons
Letter to the international media concerning use of the drawings
No repression on freedom of the press
To express your views on the debate go to the IFJ blog at: http://www.ifj.org/Blog.asp
To view the IFJ press statement on the debate go to: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3685&Language=EN
To view the IFJ press statement in Arabic on the debate click here
To contact the IFJ for more information on the debate call IFJ Human Rights…
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have criticised four new public service broadcasting regulations as a tool that will impinge upon the public’s right to freedom of information in Indonesia. The new rules will come into effect on February 6, two months after the government agreed to a postponement due to media outcry. Based upon the Broadcasting Law of 2002, the regulations represent an attempt to install a sense of order in Indonesia’s media industry, which encompasses over one hundred television and radio stations that have operated without official control since the fall of Suharto. The regulations deal with monitoring programs, allocating frequencies and…
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing more than 500,000 journalists in over 110 countries, has condemned the targeting, arrest and abuse of journalists at yesterday’s protest against the undemocratic rule of Nepal’s King Gyanendra.
At least 33 journalists, including Federation of Nepalese Journalists’ (FNJ) president Bishnu Nisthuri, vice presidents Sanjay Shantoshi Rai and Gangadhar Parajuli, secretary Balaram Baniya and treasurer Hemanta Kafle, were arrested at the protest, which was part of the FNJ’s program to commemorate the anniversary of the February 1, 2005 royal coup (which is now known as The Black Day…
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today warned that Nepal faces “becoming an isolated pariah state” unless it urgently restores democratic rule, freedom of expression and respects the rights of journalists.
Launching a detailed report on the cost to press freedom since King Gyanendra established autocratic rule a year ago, IFJ general secretary, Aidan White speaking to a mass meeting of editors and journalists from around the country in Kathmandu said that the international community was running out of patience with the king’s abandonment of democracy.
“Nepal is fast becoming an isolated pariah state, unwelcome at the table where democratic…
Click HERE to read the IFJ report 'Nepal - One Year On - Censorship, Crackdown and Courage: An IFJ report on the situation in Nepal one year after the Feb 2005 Royal coup'
The International Federation of Journalists today called on the United States military to immediately investigate the killing of an Iraqi television correspondent during clashes between U.S. forces and Sunni rebels in Ramadi.
On 24 January, Mahmoud Za'al, 35, a cameraman and reporter for the Iraqi television station Baghdad TV was shot in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, while working on a social documentary. According to local reports, Za’al was allegedly shot in a cross-fire between US forces and insurgents and his dead body was hurried to the forensic unit in Baghdad hospital by the security services.
“The US forces must confirm their role in our colleague’s…
This booklet -produced by the Swedish government- contains a short description of the legal provisions that
govern the copyright system. The booklet describes what is protected by
copyright law, the rights an author has in respect of his or her work and
how long they apply. Information is also provided on how to obtain copyright
protection, when works may be used freely without permission and what
happens when copyright is infringed.
In addition, a brief description is given of the international aspects of
copyright protection and of rights related to copyright (neighbouring
rights). The newly established provisions on protection of technological
measures and…
The European Federation of Journalists learned that the public prosecutor’s office of Luxembourg searched the premises of the Broadcasting Center Europe S.A., which manages computer resources for the RTL Group and the email system for RTL-Radio Lëtzebuerg and RTL Télé Luxembourg.
Journalists’ organisations in Luxembourg, the Association Luxembourgeoise des Journalistes(ALJ), the Union Luxembourgeoise des Journalistes (ULJ) and the Syndicat des Journalistes-Luxembourg (SJ-L), said the only aim of Monday’s search was to identify a journalistic source in the framework of an inquiry about the hacking of an email address belonging to the police.…
The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the decision of judges in Kiev to ban the press and public from the trial of three men charged with the abduction and murder of investigative journalist Gyorgy Gongadze over five years ago.
The IFJ says the action is “judicial and political censorship” of evidence implicating officials in the Ukraine at the highest level in the assassination of Gongadze.
The trial judge Irina Grigoryeva has banned press and public from hearing evidence from defendants and government security agents. “This is a scandalous cover-up that undermines the credibility of the court action and casts a shadow over democracy in the…
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) fears the high journalists’ death toll that characterised the Philippines in 2005 will be repeated in 2006, following the murders of two journalists in as many days.
“The wave of killings that has landed the Philippines as the most dangerous country for media practitioners after Iraq two years running looks to be continued into 2006,” said IFJ president Christopher Warren.
“These latest two murders only reinforce the serious concerns the IFJ has about journalists’ safety in the Philippines,” said Warren.
At approximately 10am on Friday January 20, 2006, unidentified assailants riding…
