At a meeting held in Brussels last week, the EFJ executive committee accepted a proposal by EFJ President Arne Koenig of Sweden that the central topic of the Zagreb meeting should be the promotion of labour rights for all journalists.
The Secretary-General of the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists, Aidan White, said that representatives of journalists' associations and unions who would meet in Zagreb would discuss ways of maintaining quality in the so-called new journalism, which covers all types of journalism, from the print media to on-line journalism.
He added that the crucial problem to which the Zagreb convention was expected to provide an answer was how young journalists could be helped in keeping their profession honourable in times of crisis.
White said that social and professional standards in Central and East Europe were endangered, adding that this was particularly the case with freelance reporters who lacked any efficient protection.