LEADERS of the European Federation of Journalists, Europe's largest journalists' group, have welcomed the decision by the European Parliament, which joins Sweden and the Netherlands, to take the Council of Ministers to Court over attempts to undermine a new Code guaranteeing public access to European Union documents. "The Council of Ministers is trying to sabotage the Amsterdam Treaty commitment to transparency," said Aidan White, General Secretary of the EFJ.
There had been hopes that the co-decision process between the European Parliament and the Council and discussions on a new draft code to revise the 1993 document would open up a new era of transparency. The leaders of the…
THE International Federation of Journalists, which has sent a mission of senior officers to Colombia, today called on the Government to initiate a 'fresh start for press freedom' in the country by reducing threats to journalists and media.
In an appeal to President Andrés Pastrana Arango, the IFJ has called for a "clear and decisive break with the past" and new efforts by the Government to reduce the physical threats to journalists and media.
"All sides must stop trying to manipulate media to suit their own political interests," said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White in a letter to President Pastrana Arango "and new efforts are needed to reduce the intolerable pressures being placed…
THE IFJ today called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stop trying to manipulate media in the battle for public opinion inside and outside of the region.
"Images of a Palestinian father and his son caught in the midst of Israeli gunfire and Palestinian violence against two captured Israeli soldiers have inflamed both sides", says the IFJ. "Now is the time to cool it", says Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. Israeli and Palestinian authorities must not do anything to pressure journalists to deliver images and reports that suit only their political intentions.
Journalists must be careful to ensure that they are acting professionally and that they do not do anything to…
European Parliament, October 17th 2000
As a journalist whose instinct is to get information and to share it with as many people as possible, I cannot speak with authority on the artful skill of keeping secrets. But I do know that confidentiality in certain narrowly defined areas is very important.
Most of us do not need to be told that military matters, the security of the state, the safety of citizens and the confidentiality of certain insider information on the economy require careful management and a degree of confidentiality in the public interest.
But while prudence and sound governance is one thing, the events of the past few weeks suggest that the promise in the Amsterdam…
IFJ Announces Global Conference for Sports Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists today invited sports journalists from around the globe to attend the 2nd world conference on journalism and sports. The conference Play the game - reaching for democracy in sports will take place in Copenhagen on November 12th-16th and will provide a platform of discussion on key issues such as:
Big business in sports and media;
Doping;
Corruption in sports;
Sports and media in nation building;
Beyond football: the forgotten disciplines.
Leading sports personalities and journalists will address the conference including:
Dick Pound, IOC Member;
Sandro Donati,…
THE IFJ and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), join their affiliated Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) in welcoming the release of Koen Voskuil yesterday. The Amsterdam Court of Justice had detained Voskuil since 22 September for refusing to reveal his sources.
Publishers, broadcasters, editors, and journalists in the Netherlands stood united and sued the Dutch government for the immediate and unconditional release of Koen Voskuil who was prosecuted over two stories published in Spits, concerning a criminal investigation. Media organisations said that continued detention of the journalist was unreasonable and contrary to article 10 of the…
The European Federation of Journalists called today for a stronger commitment to press freedom and journalists' rights in the new Charter of Fundamental Rights being prepared by the European Union.
While, the EFJ -- the largest journalists' group in Europe with more than 200,000 members -- welcomes the strengthening of workers' rights in the latest draft of the Charter, which includes the right to join trade unions and the right to strike, the Federation is calling for changes to Article 11 on Freedom of Expression and Information to strengthen press rights.
The EFJ says the latest text has been permanently watered down to delete promises to "guarantee" press freedom and has,…
The IFJ today called for all sides in the sudden upsurge in violence in the West Bank to respect the rights of journalists and to avoid targeting civilians. The IFJ warned that journalists were at risk as both sides in the conflict are trying to prevent negative media coverage of the clashes over the past days.
According to the IFJ's Palestinian affiliate the following journalists were caught in the crossfire Khalid Alzagary, Amer Alga'bary, Mazen Da'na, Wa'el Alshiokhy, and Wafeek Matar.
"These colleagues are endangered because of escalating violence that shows no respect for life or human rights. It is vital that the leaders of both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities issue…
Communique issued at the Seminar on Media and Conflict Reporting/Management held in Port Harcourt on the 26th - 28th September, 2000
A three-day seminar on "Media and Conflict Reporting/Management" was held at Rachael Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State from Tuesday, September 26th to Thursday , September 28th, 2000. The seminar was held under the auspices of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Media-for-Democracy In Nigeria Project (MFD) - a collaboration of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) and the International Press Centre (IPC) established with the support of the European Union.…
THE International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest journalists' organisation and its regional organisation the European Federation of Journalists, joined the affiliated NVJ (Netherlands Association of Journalists) in demanding the immediate release of Dutch journalist, Koen Voskuil, who has been detained by the Amsterdam court since Friday because he refused to reveal his sources for two stories published in Spits, concerning a criminal investigation.
"The question of revealing sources is always something for the journalist to decide and this is not a situation where we think a betrayal of principles is justified", said Hans Verploeg, General Secretary of the NVJ
"This…
THE International Federation of Journalists attacked the expulsions and threats to journalists in Belgrade over the weekend as a sign of "increasing desperation by a regime afraid to face the consequences of democracy".
A group of 20 foreign reporters was Friday instructed to leave Serbia within 24 hours. While waiting for accreditations the reporters were told that their visas had been cancelled and that they had to leave. No other explanation was offered. The group comprises journalists from Finland, Norway, Portugal, Britain and Germany as well as one Ukrainian.
"The regime of Slobodan Milosevic is indulging in a desperate fight for survival in which they want to…
The European Federation of Journalists, Europe's largest journalist's group, accused some European political leaders of hypocrisy by breaking promises to widen public access to information in the European Union.
Speaking to a European Parliament Seminar on Access to documents of the EU institutions EFJ General Secretary Aidan White said: "Too many people inside Europe's charmed circle of political power talk transparency but act secretively. This happens particularly when there is bad news on the agenda."
He said that during the last days of the Commission reign of Jacques Santer, as public disquiet about corruption and incompetence was rising, the instinct of political leaders and…
The International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest journalists' organisation, today protested the brutal killing of an Albanian reporter and called on warring factions on all sides of Kosovo's political divide to respect press freedom and to end attacks on journalists. <br/>
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The IFJ warned that the assassination on Sunday (10 September) of Shefki Popova, an Kosovar Albanian journalist working for the daily Rilindja could lead to further attacks. The murder follows an attempt on the life of Serbian journalist Valentina Cukic, editor of Serbian-language programming on Pristina's Radio Kontakt in June. <br/>
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"We must not have…
-The International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest journalists' organisation, today expressed concern that the decision to charge a television team with spying in Liberia carried with it "sinister implications for democracy and press freedom." The IFJ says it is the latest in a series of such cases in which Governments crack down on legitimate journalism by spurious allegations of espionage.
"It is easy to accuse journalists of spying," said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. "They ask difficult questions, they gather a great deal of information - much of it about the state - and they have to maintain confidentiality.
"But…
British Library, London, June 14-16th 2000
Content
I. Conclusions of the Meeting
II. Workshop Reports
Workshop One: Ethics, Quality and Authors' Rights
Workshop Two: Union Rights and Collective Bargaining
Workshop Three: Global Legal Landscape and Harmonisation
III. Conference Programme
IV. List of Participants
V. Appendices
APPENDIX A: Decisions of the IFJ Executive Committee
APPENDIX B: Decisions of the European Federation of Journalists
I. Conclusions of the Meeting
The Authors' Rights For All Summit reached the following conclusions regarding follow-up actions and the launching of a worldwide Campaign in defence of authors' rights:
Campaign Principles…
We agree with the Commission that existing rules to regulate employment relationships should be made more flexible 'with a view to allowing for an adequate coverage of the diversity of new forms of work'. Therefore the EFJ wishes to draw the ETUC's attention to the fact that the number of freelance workers, be they journalists, cartoonists photographers, musicians or performers, is increasing quickly and an important category to consider as well. Much of the new work in journalism is performed under more flexible and, from the point of view of journalists and their unions, more vulnerable and difficult terms of employment. Many new positions are based upon part-time work, fixed-term…
Held At Ibadan, Oyo State, 26th- 28th July 2000
Communique Issued At The End Of The Seminar
A seminar on ETHICS AND REGULATION: FORMULATING A WORKING AGENDA FOR JOURNALISTS, organized by the Media-for-Democracy-Project was held at the Conference Center, University of Ibadan from 26th-28th July 2000.
The seminar drew participants from a broad spectrum of the Media and the Civil Society, including the Print and Broadcast Media, Media Associations, Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Human Rights Community, Public Relations, Mass Communication Institutions, and the Nigerian Press Council. It also had in audience an international participant from the National Union of Journalists,…
Intervention by Anne Louise Schelin on behalf of IFJ
I’m very glad to have been given this opportunity to explain why it is so important for the IFJ that both economic and moral rights protect the works of journalists and press photographers and their media colleagues in all the different types of media.
Much has been said and written about this and the IFJ has also contributed to the thorough report made by Professor Alain Strowel and his assistants Marjut Salokannel and Estelle Derclaye.
I have only 10 minutes, so I’ll try to outline some major points and observations.
I’m sure we all have as our common goal for Europe (and the world for that matter) to have an editorially…
(Document prepared by the chair of the Authors’ Rights Expert Group of the EFJ, Anne Louise Schelin for the summit meeting: “Authors’ Rights for All” in June 2000) Issues to be Dealt with at the Global Level: The Major Players and the Two Competing Systems Growing awareness of the importance of immaterial rights is due to both the explosive expansion in the economy created through sale of these rights and the recognition of the cultural significance of protecting the works and performances that are the basis for this booming economy. In the field of audio-visual works (but also in other areas) the USA and the UK have a well-established industry and are leaders of the…
(Document prepared by the chair of the Authors’ Rights Expert Group of EFJ, Anne Louise Schelin for the summit meeting: “Authors’ Rights for All” in June 2000)
Moral Rights: A Prerequisite for Other Human Rights
The right to be named as the author (or performer, for that matter) and the right of protection of the artistic or journalistic integrity of a creator and his or her work are rights of immense importance. They help preserve our cultural heritage and they ensure public access to authentic scientific, documentary and artistic works.
Moral rights are also a prerequisite for a decent press characterised by editorial independence, high standards and…
European Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Resolutions
Adopted by the EFJ AGM held in Nuremberg, Germany, May 26-28, 2000
13. Recognition of IFJ Press Card
From the Swiss Federation of Journalists and the Journalists' Union of Slovakia
The AGM instructs the EFJ Steering Committee and its national Member Unions to immediately undertake all necessary action that the IFJ Press Card is recognised without reservation by the institutions of the European Union and by all national governments.
The two associations equally demand that the price of the IFJ press card will be reduced in order to make it possible for all journalists to purchase it. Thanks to a higher circulation this should…
The International Federation of Journalists sent a mission to Harare, Zimbabwe, this week to investigate the threat of press freedom on journalists (local and foreign in that country). Below is a text statement from IFJ executive member Farhana Ismail, delivered on Press Freedom Day which also formed the basis of a debate held by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, an affiliate of the IFJ. The debate was held in Harare attended by ZANU-PF's Minister without Portfolio, Eddison Zbvogo and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Movement for Democratic Change.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS (IFJ)
HARARE, ZIMBABWE (MAY 3, 2000)
As the world celebrates Press Freedom Day today, the IFJ…
In another significant victory for writers and all creators, the U.S. Court of Appeals has unanimously denied publishers a rehearing of the landmark electronic rights decision in a case brought by freelance writers.
The defendant-publishers had petitioned the 2nd Circuit for a full court review (“en banc” hearing) of the three-judge panel’s landmark ruling in the lawsuit, Tasini, et al v. The New York Times, et al., Nos. 97-9181, 97-9650 (2nd Cir. Sep. 24, 1999). The ruling last Fall made clear that it is copyright infringement for a publisher to put a freelancer’s work on-line or otherwise reuse or resell it without explicit written permission.
“I am not surprised by the denial…
Journalists' Ethics and Self-Regulation
IFJ - WAJA Conference
Abuja, April 3 & 4, 2000
THE ABUJA PROCLAMATION
An important conference on Journalists' Ethics and Self Regulation, the first of its type in Nigeria since the return of civil rule, was held in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, from April 3 to 4, 2000. The conference, held under the auspices of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), brought together journalists and representatives of regulatory bodies in the sub-region who agreed on the following declaration.
REGULATORY BODIES
That there are three types of self-regulation journalists will be…
Authors’ Rights For All – Summit 2000 was sponsored by the International Federation of Journalists with the support of a number of other organisations who wanted to launch a worldwide campaign, raising the alarm over developments at international level that threaten traditional standards of authors’ rights protection.
The conference provided a practical focus on the legal, political and professional issues at the heart of the authors’ rights debate.
This background document outlines the current concerns of authors and journalists and provides a strategy for taking the debate forward
The EFJ has set up an European Works Council Expert Group in 1998 in order to closely monitor the revision of the European Works Council Directive and in order to monitor and support the establishment of European Works Councils in the media sector.
The EFJ has been extremely concerned by Article 8 (Confidential information), Point 3 on 'Each member states may lay down particular provisions for the central management of undertakings in its territory which pursue directly and essentially the aim of ideological guidance with respect to information and the expression of opinions, on condition that, at the date of adoption of this directive such particular provisions already exist in national…
IFJ Health is a regional newsletter produced by Rory O'Neill, the IFJ Health, Safety, and Environment Officer, and, IFJ Representative on the ICFTU Health, Safety and Environment panel.
This newsletter provides information on a wide spectrum of issues related to health and safety at work.
No. 4 February 2000
Statement by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
The European Union has developed a community framework for the protection of authors´rights and related rights. This framwork is characterised by four main criteria:
Maintenance of a high level of protection in the area of intellectual property,
Assignment of the exclusive rights to the authors and the rightsholders of related rights,
Classification of only natural persons as authors and
Strengthening the rights of the rightholders of related rights.
The Council Common Position on the draft Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society,…
The Rabat Declaration
Second Conference of Mediterranean Journalists
Editorial Independence and Journalists' Rights
Rabat, 2 and 3 December 1999
Professional journalists from 8 countries (Algeria, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal and Tunisia) met in Rabat on 2-3 December 1999 within the framework of the Second Mediterranean Conference on "Editorial Independence and Journalists' Rights". They adopted the following final declaration:
On the basis of the declarations of Milan (1993 and 1995), of Zagreb (1998) and of Florence (1998).
1. Democracy is the form of government that offers citizens as a whole the chance to influence government policy and that recognizes…
EFJ Conference, Brussels November 1999
Summary of Recommendations
The following concrete actions & recommendations were agreed. EFJ/IFJ member unions should:
contact their government to convince the EU not to compromise on Public Service Broadcasting or on Authors' Rights at the World Trade Organisaton talks in Seattle and thereafter; pay close attention to the implementation of the part-time work and fixed-term contract directives into national legislation; look for evidence of anti-competitive practices by the publishers and producers in their dealings with us; tackle the question of freelances employing other freelances; encourage co-operation between freelances and…
