Labour rights for journalists and media professionals as a safeguard for independence and truthful information

Key points

The EESC:

• urges authorities to take urgent protective measures against the growing insecurity of journalists, and calls for the full application of European Media Freedom Act. It also calls for the establishment of independent support for media outlets, in addition to existing subsidies to ensure the sustainability of the European media sector, and for considerable increase of funds for the protection of a sound information ecosystem;

• calls on the European Commission to put forward an ambitious package with policy measures and investments to support quality jobs in the media sector, and calls on governments to promote social dialogue and collective bargaining for all journalists, including freelancers, through the transposition of the Directive on adequate minimum wages where applicable^[1] and the Guidelines on the application of Union competition law to collective agreements of solo self-employed persons^[2]. It further calls on the European Commission and Member States to fight bogus self-employment;

• calls on the European Commission to follow up on the Recommendation on the Protection, Safety and Empowerment of Journalists^[3], and stresses the need for deeper engagement with journalists’ organisations to build structures that can safeguard journalists’ safety. Journalists are workers who are significantly exposed to stress, burnout, online harassment and digital overload. It would be useful for the Commission to consider how to follow up on the European Parliament resolution of 10 March 2022 calling for a directive on psychosocial risks to be adopted. The EESC is ready to issue an opinion on this matter[4];

• calls on the European Commission to monitor the application of the EU's legislative framework on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to protect journalists and encourages journalists’ unions and media organisations to address the use of AI in newsrooms in the social dialogue. It also calls for funding for projects that develops the AI literacy of journalists, consideration of possibilities to co-fund ‘European Journalism Academies’, training and possibly subsidies for the salaries for young journalists from media companies that meet high standards concerning quality journalism and working conditions.