Armenia: Early May (several days): Publication of special articles with results of close monitoring of media coverage of elections taking place on 6 May. A news conference is also foreseen (date TBA)
Belgium: May 8: AEJ members participate in the Seminar on Media Freedom in the EU in the European Parliament, Brussels
Bulgaria: May 3: AEJ Bulgarian Section launches a new radio programme “The Best and Worst of Bulgarian Media”; the theme of the first 2-hour programme will be “journalists and media freedom”. Entries in several categories will be judged and the names of the winning journalists announced on air.
Croatia: May 3: Croatian Journalists Association announces winners of national Journalist of the Year awards; May 4: Public debate on media and politics and press ethics
Ireland: May 11: AEJ Section lunchtime meeting about Ireland’s Freedom of Information laws with Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte
Netherlands: Joint event with several organisers on 4 May in the Hague, including commemoration of all journalists who have died on duty
Romania: A special debate on 3 May in Bucharest on the theme of “The voice of the press in Romania’s current political and social turmoil” with leading political figures and journalists
Turkey: AEJ Vice-President Dogan Tilic and a coalition of press freedom groups will engage in new actions for the release of wrongly jailed Turkish journalists
UK: AEJ is a co-organiser of a public debate on 3 May from 6.30 pm at Thomson Reuters building in London, on “Strasbourg: Journalists’ Foe or Friend? Media Freedom and the Rule of Law in Europe”. A video recording will be posted later on the BBC College of Journalism website www.bbc.co.uk/journalism and on Youtube. The event will open with a tribute to journalists killed in the past 12 months worldwide.
Ukraine: Joint press event hosted by several media organisations about violations of press freedom and violence against journalists in Ukraine, with participation of a representative of Ukraine’s public body responsible for protecting the rights of journalists. Ukraine’s Institute of Mass Media (IMI) presents its “Chronicle of Press Freedom – 2011”. Speakers will include Nataliya Ligachova (Telekritika), Viktoriya Sumar (IMI), Yuriy Lukanov (Independent media trade-union of Ukraine) and Oksana Romaniuk (Reporters Without Borders)
UNESCO CELEBRATIONS FOR WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: The theme of the international celebrations in Tunis on May 3 to 5 is “New Voices: Media Freedom helping to Transform Society”. See UNESCO’s website for details:-
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/world-press-freedom-day/2012-themes/media-freedom-has-the-power-to-transform-societies/
AEJ INTERNATIONAL EVENT: The European Parliament in Brussels will host an AEJ Seminar on 8 May on “Media Freedom in Europe: What can the EU do to help?”. This Event is one of the special celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Association of European Journalists, which was founded in San Remo, Italy, in 1962.
For further details see AEJ Section websites.