The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) which held its General Meeting in Istanbul on April 16-18^th 2010, is launching a fight back by journalists' unions over attacks on labour rights and standards of journalism in media across the continent.

"A toxic mix of editorial cuts, precarious working conditions and unethical journalism has created a spiral of decline for media and democracy in Europe," said Arne König, EFJ President following the conclusion of the meeting on Sunday. "Journalists' unions will fight hard to change course and to restore public confidence in a media system that is credible, relevant and transparent."

Journalists' unions and associations from 24 countries attended the meeting of Europe's largest journalists' group, which is a regional body of the International Federation of Journalists, but not those from Ireland, Iceland and Denmark who were caught out by the airports closures.

The debates focused on securing the future of journalism and countering the impact of a media crisis that has seen numerous closures of newspapers and cutbacks in newsrooms across all media sectors' activity. Standards of journalism are falling, say unions, as employers make savage cuts in editorial costs, reduce numbers of journalists and invest less in editing, investigative and specialist news reporting.

As a result of the migration of advertising and audience to online and Internet services, profits have fallen and journalists are angry that employers are using unpaid amateurs via the Internet to fill holes in editorial content.

"The future of journalism is at stake and unions are determined to fight for their jobs and their professional values," said König after the meeting adopted an extensive working programme that includes launching fresh campaigns on quality in media and action to improve working conditions.

The EFJ has been instrumental in putting the media crisis on the European Union agenda and plans to press Parliament and the Commission to encourage member states to open up national debates on strengthening journalism as a public good. "Answers need to be found, particularly to the funding crisis," added König. "But there must be no compromise over editorial independence or the need for credible and ethical journalism."   

König said the meeting outlined a strategy which will help unions define priorities for the future of journalism, but its main objective is to encourage new levels of solidarity inside journalism and media. "The message from Istanbul is that unity is our great strength and this solidarity will be key to winning the battles over the future direction of journalism and media," he said. 

For more information contact the EFJ at   +32 2 235 2215   

   
The EFJ represents over 250,000 journalists in over 30 European countries