Ricardo Gutiérrez, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) said on Friday that Europe wasn’t a paradise for journalists any more, neither was it safe for them, the Beta news agency reported.
Addressing the “Freedom of Speech and Protection of Journalists” debate at the eighth meeting of the World Democracy Forum in Strasbourg, Gutiérrez said that in the last five years 24 journalists were killed, while 13 died in the territory of the European Union.
He added that many journalists were currently imprisoned, and said Turkey was the largest “jail” for journalists in Europe.
Gutiérrez also said that bad working conditions led to increasing self-censorship. “People see journalists as the custodians of democracy, but it seems they lost their power… It worries me a lot,” he said.
Gutiérrez told the debate that journalism was not the same as it was 20 or 30 years ago, adding that media were responsible for the content they published, unlike social network journalism.
“That is piratical journalism,” he said about the content on social media.
The World Democracy Forum “Is Democracy Endangered in Information Age” is taking place from November 6-8 in Strasbourg under the Council of Europe auspices and gathers media representatives, activists and political leaders from across the globe.
The Forum is a unique platform for decision-makers and activists providing them with a chance to talk about crucial challenges democracy facing in the world.