First Professional International: FIJ (1926–40)

Abstract

In 1926 European journalists’ trade unions formed the Federation Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ) as the first international organization exclusively representing journalists. Its members committed the new body to assist ‘in the work of defending the professional interests’, and to safeguard ‘in all possible ways the liberty of the Press’.1 Throughout its existence, the FIJ focused on the former. It collected and synthesized information and generated international norms furthering the professionalization of journalism in the interwar period. The focus on professionalism, however, was only possible because liberal unions from the industrialized countries of Central and Western Europe dominated the FIJ. Until the mid-1930s, this ensured not only a refusal to address political issues such as the admission of communist and fascist unions but also prevented the accession of press associations from outside Europe. The FIJ was political by shunning all but liberal politics.