The spring session of the UJF Council, 19 May, discussed the situation facing journalists in Finland and abroad and the work of the Union to improve members’ rights. Union President Hanne Aho said that charges brought against three Helsingin Sanomat journalists and the further concentration of media ownership in Finland were responsible for the countryRead More
The Foundation to Promote Journalistic Culture (known by its Finnish acronym Jokes) is providing €30 000 to support the work of the journalists’ safe haven residency. The residency project was initiated by the Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF) and is being run by the international organisation Artists at Risk. The aim of the residencyRead More
Union of Journalists in Finland is providing 15 000 euro to support Ukraine’s journalists and the country’s crucially important news media. The union stresses that during war accurate and reliable information is essential. “It’s important that journalists in Ukraine are allowed to do their vital work so that the world knows what is happening there,”Read More
The Council of the Union of Journalists in Finland, which met 26 November, has called on the Finnish government to help Afghan journalists get out of Afghanistan. “We have a duty to help those who are now in mortal danger after cooperating with Finnish media and journalists. There are reportedly about twenty such people inRead More
Three journalists from the national daily Helsingin Sanomat have been charged today for publicising a security secret and attempting to do so. The charges are extremely serious for freedom of expression. Helsingin Sanomat published an article in December 2017 about the Defense Forces’ Intelligence Research Centre. The Finnish Constitution was being urgently amended at theRead More
The press freedom situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated rapidly from difficult to impossible under Taliban rule. New media regulations were introduced on September 19, placing restrictions on independent media and freedom of expression. The regulations stipulate, for instance, that stories “contrary to islam” cannot be published. The International Federation of Journalists condemned the coercive restrictions,Read More
The highest decision-making body of the UJF, the Council, met remotely for its spring session from 20 to 21 May 2021. The meeting dealt with matters ranging from the rules of teleworking to government support for the media, EU copyright rules, occupational health for freelancers, the work of the Mediakunta cooperative, solidarity with journalists inRead More
The Council of the Union of Journalists in Finland, meeting 21 May, voiced its deep concern for its colleagues in Belarus and condemns the increasing persecution of journalists and the media by the Belarusian government and authorities. The situation came to a head this week when the Tut.by news, media and service internet portal, theRead More
The UJF has strongly condemned the concerted attack on 16 February by Belarusian security forces on a number of the country’s journalists and journalists’ organisations. State security officials pretending to be police officers, swooped on the home of Andrei Bastunets, the chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and arrested him. BAJ press secretaryRead More