The creation of this organization was dictated by long-standing necessity — both because of the fundamental changes currently reshaping the field of journalism, and due to the visible decline of traditional institutions that were once meant to defend freedom of speech and uphold high moral and ethical standards in the media.

The rapid development of the Internet, social networks, and now artificial intelligence has revolutionized the information space in a way comparable to the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press or the advent of television.

Today, an ordinary mobile phone allows a journalist to create material that not long ago required a professional and costly television studio. Meanwhile, a popular blogger often reaches a larger audience and wields greater influence than traditional television channels, still formally regarded as the “flagships” of the media industry.

At the same time, however, the enormous volumes of information and the spread of new technologies have created new challenges — above all, a surge of disinformation and fake news, which media professionals and society at large are only beginning to learn how to counter.

As history shows, at moments of civilizational change, old structures degrade quickly, turning into parodies of themselves. Standards of journalistic ethics are being replaced by clan-like loyalty, protecting “one’s own” and persecuting “outsiders.”

The fight against disinformation is frequently transformed into censorship and propaganda. Professionalism is sacrificed to dogmatic formulas — such as the much-invoked but often mythologized “BBC standards” — which reduce journalism to mechanical templates, stifling living thought and creative expression.

Mafia-like thinking, political propaganda instead of honest reporting, and the suppression of creativity by dogmatic “standards” — these are the three sources of the crisis in which journalism finds itself today.

These principles are reflected in the statutory goals of the European Journalists’ Society:

  • protection of freedom of speech;

  • promotion of professional and ethical debate;

  • protection of the professional, economic, and social rights of journalists;

  • support for journalists who are political refugees or emigrants;

  • improvement and development of media legislation in Latvia and the European Union;

  • cooperation with other national and international journalistic organizations and media industry associations;

  • support for adherence to the fundamental principles of international law, including those enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

The European Journalists’ Society intends to work actively both within the European Union and beyond. Colleagues from Latvia and Lithuania have already declared their intention to join the Society, while Ukrainian journalists are also expected to participate — a matter of particular importance to the organization.

Beyond Europe, Argentine writer and investigative journalist Kitty Sanders, well known for her work on human trafficking and the fight against organized pedophile crime, has agreed to serve as the Society’s regional representative.

The founders of the European Journalists’ Society are Latvian investigative journalist Leonid Jakobson and writer and publicist Dmitry Savvin.

Because of his professional activities, L. Jakobson has endured not only an assassination attempt but also years of unlawful persecution, which has been examined not only nationally but also by the UN Human Rights Committee https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/meeting-summaries/dialogue-latvia-experts-human-rights-committee-welcome-law-granting.

D. Savvin worked in journalism for many years, and in 2015 he was forced to flee Russia due to his anti-war publications.

We know the true price of freedom of speech, and we have repeatedly shown that we are ready to pay that price.

At present, administrative functions of the European Journalists’ Society are being carried out by D. Savvin. In the near future, a broad Board of Directors will be elected; according to the Society’s Charter, its mandate will be limited to one year.