Support centres

Lithuanian Union of Journalists

The Lithuanian Union of Journalists (Lietuvos žurnalistų sąjunga, LŽS) is a union representing journalists based in Lithuania. It defends their interests and provides them with information and assistance. It also carries out advocacy activity, and it organises events and contests. The LŽS is organized in regional branches and in thematic sub-sections, which gather journalists sharing specific features or interests.

The union's chairman can be contacted at chairas@lzs.lt or +370 85 2122805.

Mass Media Defence Centre

The Mass Media Defence Centre is an NGO working in the field of media rights protection and the promotion of freedom of expression standards in Russia. Its primary purpose is to protect the rights of media outlets and the legal protection of journalists, also helping them to find pro bono lawyers and providing legal advice.

Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA)

The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) is a Turkish non-profit (registered as Medya ve Hukuk Çalışmaları Derneği) founded in late 2017.

The main goals of the association, as stated in its website, are:

• offering legal protection to journalists who are punished for expressing their thoughts
• promoting the public’s right to information, particularly by supporting good finance and science journalism
• promoting rights of minority groups, with a concentration on refugees and the LGBTI community.

Media Development Center (North Macedonia)

The Media Development Center (MDC) is a Skopje-based NGO, providing free legal and advocacy support to North Macedonian staff journalists, editors and media outlets. Person to be contacted for help is Dejan Georgievski (dejan@mdc.org.mk or +38978483102).

Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI)

Media Defence (also known as MLDI) provides legal defence to independent media, journalists and bloggers around the world who are under threat for their reporting. MLDI does this by administering an emergency defence fund, helping journalists, bloggers and independent media pay legal fees, and provides legal expertise to the lawyer(s) defending a case.

MLDI also engages in strategic litigation to challenge repressive laws and expand the space for media freedom. Through this, it seeks to advance respect for international law and norms on the right to freedom of expression. MLDI submits cases to domestic courts and international tribunals and intervenes in cases already under way, as well as supporting national lawyers to do the same.

In countries where the threat of legal action is high and constant, MLDI provides financial support and legal expertise to national organisations that provide legal defence services to journalists.

MLDI also runs training and networking programmes for lawyers in the fields of media law and human rights.

E-mail: info@mediadefence.org

National Foundation for India

In the year 1990, Bharat Ratna recipient, late C. Subramaniam, late Dr. Kamla Choudhary, and Dr. M. S. Swaminathan along with personalities from the worlds of art, media, business, academia and the government came together to seed National Foundation for India (NFI).

Fellowships: NFI offers financial assistance and resources to support independent journalists, particularly those from marginalized communities or difficult geographies.

Grants: NFI provides grants to media organizations that promote independent journalism and public interest reporting.

Capacity Building: Helps journalists aiming to pursue investigative journalism, digital storytelling and data journalism.

Advocacy: NFI advocates for media freedom and pluralism.

Awareness: Spreads awareness about issues affecting journalists. Organizes campaigns against censorship and harassment of journalists.

Address: Upper Ground Floor, Core 4A, INDIA HABITAT CENTRE, Lodhi Rd, Institutional Area, Lodi Colony, New Delhi, Delhi 110003
Tel: 91-11-24641864, 24641865, 24648490, 24648491
Mail: info@nfi.org.in

National Union of Journalists - UK & Ireland

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is the union representing the people employed in the journalism sector in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Founded in 1907, the NUJ includes quite a broad range of professionals, active in a variety of media outlets and working according to different models. The union provides information, assistance and support to its members, and it promotes campaigns to advance their causes. While the NUJ invites to get in touch with its local representatives, it is also possible to contact its headquarters at +44 020 7843 3700 or at info@nuj.org.uk.

Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten - NVJ

The Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (NVJ), the Dutch journalist union, was founded in 1884 as Nederlandse Journalisten Kring (NJK). It is a member of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Norwegian Union of Journalists

The Norwegian Union of Journalists (Norsk Journalistlag) is the union representing the people working in the journalism sector in Norway, and it includes the vast majority of them. Besides acting in order to improve its members' working conditions, the union is active in promoting journalism ethics and freedom and in monitoring the state of journalism in Norway and abroad. It provides its members with legal and professional assistance, as well as with several education and grant opportunities. The union also publishes the online magazine Journalisten , devoted to media issues. Contacts to get in touch with the union are nj@nj.no and +47 22 05 39 50.

Observatory of Media Freedom (Poland)

'The Observatory of Media Freedom in Poland' is a legal program founded by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) in 2008 and operates in Poland. Its focus is on the protection related to freedom of expression in traditional media as well as on the Internet.

The program provides legal aid concerning inter alia issues such as criminal defamation, press law offences, protection of journalistic sources of information, the liability of the Internet service providers etc. During court proceedings, the ‘Observatory’ can as well arrange pro bono legal assistance for journalists who cannot afford to pay for regular legal aid.