The European Federation of Journalists is mad as hell and they're not gonna take it anymore. Take what? What they see as favoritism shown by the European Union governments of other cultural ventures, like music, dance, and arts, over journalism.
"Governments across the bloc are very comfortable with funding art galleries, theatre, ballet and opera in the interest of cultural pluralism," said EFJ general secretary Aidan White at their annual meeting on Tuesday. "They should not shy away from similar funding to protect information pluralism."
The EFJ asserts that, because of the recent crisis in the media world and low advertising sales that continue to flatline, EU journalists are having trouble keeping the quality of journalism high and consistent. In hopes to save their publications, newspapers tend to lower their standards, White claims.
"Employers are throwing standards out the window in the battle for readers and audiences, meaning more celebrity journalism and less coverage of local government, fewer foreign bureaux and so on," he said.
And, according to EFJ president Arne König, the lower quality of journalism may also affect democracy.
"A toxic mix of editorial cuts, precarious working conditions and unethical journalism has created a spiral of decline for media and democracy in Europe," he said at the meeting.
