Today, European journalists stand up together throughout Europe. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) launched on the 5th of November their ‘Stand up for Journalism’ campaign. They urge us to do something against the precarious situation of young freelances, job cuts and economic and politic pressures on the newsrooms. It is time to make the call for quality of journalism and decent working conditions.

Aidan White, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists is very clear about the role of the journalism in the society “When I started my journalism career nearly 40 years ago there was still the idea that in producing journalism you were involved in something good, you were not exactly a nurse but you were doing something that was a public value.
That’s been lost, it is necessary to bring this back to the mission of the journalist and to actually provide it for a public sphere. Good objective quality information is valuable and people need it, because it enriches their lives. Nowadays people are encouraged to go into journalism in order to be the mouthpiece of a movement, or a product or to be profitable. It is as much a political as an economical problem. Politicians tend to believe that the market can solve every problem society has, but the reality of it is you have to have public interventions in order to protect public values. Just like social and health care are public values.

Information is simply not safe in the hands of the private sector and it’s also not save in the anarchic world of blogs. Virtual blogging is a world full of interesting and existing opinions, but it’s unreliable. You cannot control it and it does nothing but providing any other service than a vain egotistical service to the individuals who take part in it. We have to restore some sense of collective responsibility.” 

He launches the following question: “I wonder why we can’t have internet portals which are funded out of public money but which are designed absolutely to provide public service in terms of good quality information. Why doesn’t the European Union provide the funds and in return have a contract with a certain number of rules: how to employ your people and to work absolutely independently, which could help young people to understand Europe as a whole. It could deal with culture, migration, social life, etc. Why doesn’t this happen?”

Now it is up to the young ones

The debate on the future of journalism is one we have to have and it are the young people who have to take the lead in the debate instead of just being powerless witnesses.”

And how can they do that? Empowering young people’s role in the society is the obvious answer, but providing young journalists the right tools to protect themselves from the unscrupulous media companies and politicians is the key to succeed!

Young journalists need also to be prepared for the new media evolution, they should be aware of the changes on the journalism field, be active in the national unions, mobilise and wake them up. But on the other hand, honesty is necessary: “Young people should be encouraged to go into media, but we have to give them a correct portrait of what is going on in the “field”. It is not a glamorous life: for every 10 journalism students in Belgium, there is only one who will find a job in journalism. I can’t think about one journalism school in Europe that is not worried about where to place their people. “

To be familiarised with their rights and duties, as with the framework contracts based on correct working condition, young journalists should contact their national journalism unions (contacts also available on www.ifj-europe.org).

The role of the EU Institutions

European Institutions are seen nowadays as the problem solver for every difficulty or every public concern. Indeed, they can draft some useful solutions and take into action loads of policies and programmes able to make everything more “citizens’ friendly”. However, Aidan White mentions, “They don’t have the legal power to change the situation of the media. They demanded of the candidate countries to change their economical, legal and social situation, but didn’t demand a division of state and media. They talk the talk but they don’t walk the walk because they don’t have the legal competence to enforce changes in the media. If we want things to change the state, and in this case the European Institutions, have to be able to enforce quality measures.”