EFJ Annual Meeting in Sarajevo: Rising trend in political influence on media

The annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), bringing together 150 journalists, 93 delegates and 53 news organizations from 38 countries of Europe and the Middle East, wrapped up its work on 26 April 2016 in Sarajevo.

The EFJ assembly adopted concrete recommendations for activities related to the protection of media freedom and labor rights of journalists, safety of journalists, association of journalists from digital media for their protection, as well as battling hate speech and propaganda.

It was pointed out at the event that a rising trend in political influence on media, particular public services, has been observed on the European continent. EFJ will in the future advocate more for freedom of public service media because pressure on public service media questions the social role of journalism. EFJ will in its future work also focus more on media pluralism and the problem of media ownership concentration.

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said that we are living in a dangerous time of terrorism, migrations and wars and that journalists are still being prevented from reporting about these issues, which is inadmissible. She added that no country can call itself democratic if it tolerates attacks on journalists.

The delegates again voted Mogens Blicher Bjerregard for EFJ president, while Nadezda Agzikhina from Russia was voted deputy president. Marijana Camovic, John Barsby, Andreas Bittner, Anna Del Freo, Yannis Kotsifos, Luis Menendez and Urs Thalmann were elected Steering Committee members.

According to EFJ data, the two-day meeting in Sarajevo brought together the biggest number of participants since the organization’s founding. This is the first time the event was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EFJ 2016 annual meeting was hosted by the BiH Journalists’ Association.

This article is a contribution of the SEE Media Partnership for Media Development co-funded by the the Civil Society Facility, Media Freedom and Accountability Programme, EuropeAid/134613/C/ACT/MULTI

This  document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents are the sole responsibility of Media Initatives and can under no circumstances  be regarded as reflecting the position of the EU.