The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) has just published the Media Pluralism Monitor 2026 (#MPM2026), the most comprehensive EU-wide assessment of risks to media pluralism and press freedom. The report shows that the working conditions of journalists, in terms of salaries and social security schemes, are deteriorating. The situation is particularly worrying in one in three countries in Europe.
This year’s findings show how weak business models, big tech, lack of protection against legal intimidation practices, and market concentration are challenging the resilience of media pluralism in Europe, despite the entry into force of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
In particular, the MPM report analyses the current state of favourable conditions for free and independent journalism (in terms of both working conditions and safety of journalists from physical, verbal and legal harassment). With regard to this key protection indicator, only six countries (out of the 31 analysed) offer a decent level of protection: Luxembourg (8% risk level), Denmark (14%), Estonia (15%), Sweden (20%), Finland (27%) and Ireland (30%). On this criterion, the countries with the poorest performance are Serbia (77%) and Greece (69%).
The indicator relating to journalists’ working conditions is even more worrying. One-third of EU Member States and candidate countries face high risks under this sub-indicator. Hungary, Greece, Croatia and Romania are the worst-performing EU Member State for journalists’ working conditions (97% risk level!), followed by France, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Slovenia (75% risk level). At the other end of the ranking, Denmark is the only country that generally offers good working conditions for media workers (3% risk level).
The report notes that “the number of employed journalists continues to decline – albeit at a slower pace than before – working conditions of freelancers remain poor, and the business models of news media are increasingly vulnerable to the digital transformation. News media, especially online, attempt innovations in business models, formats and processes, but this so far does not translate into any significant increase in revenue”.
“The working conditions of journalists, especially local journalists and freelancers, remain poor throughout Europe and in some countries there is a freeze on or lack of collective labour agreements (e.g. in Italy and Greece). Large media houses and PSMs are also cutting jobs. (…) The use of AI in journalism poses further threats for newsroom staffing. In Belgium, for example, the magazine Elle published articles under the name of fictional journalists: more than half of the online content was proved to be AI- generated. Due to these labour issues, a decreasing number of young people are joining the profession. Economic instability jeopardises the quality of reporting, further increasing journalists’ vulnerability to external pressures and negatively impacting journalists’ mental health”.
In its Recommendations section, the report calls on the European Union to introduce “stronger binding measures to protect journalists’ working conditions, including the effective enforcement of the Minimum Wage Directive”. The governments of the Member States are, for their part, called upon to “introduce labour legislation that guarantees journalists adequate minimum wages and access to social security protections”. The report also calls on the media industry to “include the journalists’ representatives in the negotiations with the platforms and AI companies in order to distribute the revenue along the media value chain, and evaluate the impact of newsroom innovations on employment and working conditions”.
“The report’s authors’ conclusion is stark,” reacted EFJ President Maja Sever. “Neither the European Union, nor national governments, nor the media industry are taking the necessary measures to protect media workers, who all too often find themselves practically unable to fulfil their remit, namely to continue to guarantee citizens’ right to be informed. This disregard for journalists’ employment status also amounts to a denial of citizens’ fundamental right to access information. It is time to put an end to this inaction. It is time to take seriously the dangerous deterioration in our working conditions and the threat this poses to democracy”.
The MPM study confirms the findings of the recent report by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the deterioration in working conditions for journalists in Europe. Although initiated by the trade union component of the EESC, the own-initiative opinion, entitled ‘Labour rights for journalists and media professionals as a safeguard for independence and truthful information’, received very broad support from representatives of the other two components, employers and civil society, during the Committee’s plenary vote, on 3 December 2025.
Interactive MPM map, here.
Source: EFJ
