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Resolution 2213 (2018)
The status of journalists in Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates
that freedom of expression and information is a fundamental right
guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
(ETS No. 5). That right includes media freedom, which is a key prerequisite
for the existence and development of a democratic society.
2. Professional journalists have a mission to provide the public
with information on general or specialist topics of interest as
responsibly and as objectively as possible. Accordingly, the Assembly
is concerned to observe a gradual slide into precarity of the profession
of journalist, directly linked to the collapse of the traditional
financing model used for many media following technological change
and the development of online media, with their impact sometimes
exacerbated by political factors related to growing tendencies driven
by populism, authoritarianism or the favouring of private interests.
Some media have thus seen their editorial independence undermined
while others have had to lay off staff. However, the Assembly notes
that technological changes have also had a positive impact on journalists’
work, in particular by facilitating research, communication and
the creation of international networks, and globally accessible
databases of journalistic sources and works.
3. A drop in the revenue of most media, the casting around of
publishers for new business models and the virtually systematic
outsourcing of work have all substantially contributed to the boom
in the number of freelance journalists. The latter are confronted
with a lack of professional recognition: although working in the same
conditions as journalists employed on full-time contracts, they
do not have the same rights and, in several countries, cannot be
represented by trade unions and negotiate their rates.
4. The Assembly is further concerned that journalists’ working
conditions continue to deteriorate: they are working longer hours;
the demand for high output affects their ability to check information
sources, investigate sensitive issues and analyse facts with a degree
of detachment; many media companies do not allocate adequate resources
to training; freelancers often lack preparation or insurance for
working in areas where there are risks or conflicts.
5. In addition, the Assembly observes unacceptable inequality
between women and men in the profession: women’s careers are shorter
than men’s; it is considerably more difficult for them to reach managerial
level; female journalists are the main victims of cyberbullying
and sexist violence. In this connection, the Assembly reminds the
member States of Committee of Ministers Recommendation
CM/Rec(2013)1 on gender equality and media, and the need
to implement it.
6. Consequently, the Assembly recommends that member States:
6.1. fully respect their obligations
stemming from Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
as regards journalists and other media actors’ freedom of expression,
and in particular their right not to reveal journalistic sources
and their right to receive or impart information;
6.2. take all necessary measures to strengthen the safety of
journalists and other media actors, to stop any harassment (including
of a judicial, administrative or financial nature) against them
and put an end to impunity for attacks against them, notably by
conducting effective investigations into killings and other offences
against their physical integrity; in this respect, member States
of the Council of Europe should implement the guidelines set out
in the appendix to Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4
on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other
media actors;
6.3. review their domestic legislation on the status of journalists
with a view to:
6.3.1. identifying any areas to be updated,
taking recent technological and economic developments into account;
6.3.2. ensuring that such legislation protects journalists from
arbitrary dismissal or reprisals and from precarious working conditions
that may expose them to undue pressures obliging them to depart
from accepted journalistic ethics and standards;
6.3.3. providing a legal definition of journalists wide enough
to encompass all forms of contemporary professional journalistic
work, including internet-based work;
6.3.4. repealing disproportionately restrictive defamation laws
and ensuring adequate procedural guarantees in libel proceedings
brought against journalists;
6.4. explore avenues for alternative funding in a new media
ecosystem, including:
6.4.1. the redistribution of advertising
revenue generated by search engines or social media;
6.4.2. the inclusion of freelance journalists within the scope
of labour legislation in terms of minimum pay;
6.4.3. the institutionalisation of innovatory crowdfunding initiatives,
for example by giving decision-making power to donors providing
more than 1% of registered capital;
6.5. support action plans to tackle the problem of gender inequality
on the labour market in the media sector, including:
6.5.1. conducting
studies containing statistical indicators;
6.5.2. the introduction of mechanisms inciting employers' organisations
to seriously tackle this problem in the long term;
6.6. support the involvement of representative social partners
in the media sector to promote dialogue between employees and freelancers,
on the one hand, and employers, on the other;
6.7. ensure that journalists' right to freedom of association
is respected, in particular as regards adhering to trade unions
and journalists' associations.
7. The Assembly calls on trade unions and journalists' organisations
to:
7.1. adjust to rapid societal
changes, including with regard to the status of journalists, which
should be adaptable, as its essence lies in the tasks of journalists
and not in the legal definition;
7.2. promote membership, particularly among young people and
women, but also among providers and managers of content, currently
excluded from many trade unions, while ensuring that all members have
the requisite professional expertise;
7.3. promote the practice of mentoring for young journalists
in general, enabling them to benefit from the professional experience
of their more experienced colleagues, and for young female journalists
in particular, to better equip them to combat discriminatory attitudes,
harassment and sexist violence;
7.4. stimulate dialogue between professional journalists and
other content-provider professions on questions of quality, professional
standards and responsibility;
7.5. diversify themes and fields of training, adapting to the
demands of the new media environment, and develop services for their
members, in response to their specific requirements;
7.6. represent all journalists in collective bargaining and
agreements, above all for basic rights such as working hours, wages,
paid leave after a certain length of service and social insurance
contributions covering pensions, social security and unemployment;
7.7. include and defend the rights of freelance journalists
in the workplace and within social legislation in general, conferring
upon them a core of common rights granted to salaried employees.
8. The Assembly invites the European Federation of Journalists
to promote awareness of the issues raised in this Resolution among
its members and to facilitate exchanges of experience and the passing
on of good practice regarding high-quality journalism that respects
codes of ethics and is worthy of public trust.
9. The Assembly calls on member States to support the Platform
to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists
with adequate financial contributions and by co-operating in its
functioning, in particular by responding to alerts and by engaging
in follow-up initiated by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
10. The Assembly strongly condemns the assassinations of journalists
Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, Ján Kuciak in the Slovak Republic
and Maxim Borodin in the Russian Federation. It calls on the Maltese,
Slovak and Russian authorities to conduct effective investigations
into these deaths, in line with the procedural guarantees stemming
from Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.