Veran Matić – Decade of work of the Press Council

(Source: Cenzolovka) On this day, exactly ten years ago, the Press Council began its work, an independent self-regulatory body registered in 2009, with the aim of monitoring compliance with the Code of Journalists of Serbia in the print media. The founders of the Press Council are the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, the Association of Journalists of Serbia, the Media Association and the Local Press.

Work on amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media should affirm and not disavow the previous efforts and undisputed achievements of the Press Council in the fight to respect the professional Code, which should minimize the daily occurrence of deception, manipulation or concealment of important information from audience.

One of the biggest problems of the local, not only media, legislation is the fact that from the moment the strategy is adopted, through the process of drafting the law, adoption in the parliament, to its practical application, too much time passes. This significantly affects possible mistakes that are difficult to eliminate until the next change in the law, when the implementation is delayed again. And so on. It is even worse when trying to change the legal framework by forcing worse solutions, such as trying to marginalize the undisputed successes of the Press Council, which has been the subject of numerous meetings of the Working Group on Amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media.

On the other hand, we have good examples when there is an awareness of the acceleration of obsolescence and obsolescence of legal norms due to technological changes that result in “digital threats cannot be solved by a legislator stuck in the analog world.”

In the domain of amendments to the Criminal Code, that should be overcome on the basis of the analysis of Professor Stojanović. Partial amendments based on this study should bring the concept of security protection in line with the real situation in which their physical and professional integrity is threatened. The experience so far gives us enough grounds for the changes to be comprehensive this time, and most importantly, to deter potential attackers with their existence and practical application. Although there are opinions that the existing legal framework is sufficient and that “the application of the law and the efficiency of the work of institutions with a greater degree of understanding of the police and prosecutors for journalistic work” is crucial, there are serious “gaps in the law” that are abused. The new legal solutions would reduce these possibilities to a minimum, which would deny the possibility of misunderstanding, lack of application and avoidance of appropriate sanctioning of perpetrators.

The global fight against misinformation is obviously gaining momentum on social networks as well. Thus, for the first time, Twitter will cooperate with the Reuters and AP news agencies to verify the facts and reveal misinformation. This influential social network is currently testing an option that will allow users to report fake news-based content, while also activating a new option to tag hate speech accounts, which will be blocked for a week.

The power of social networks can be seen during the current pre-election campaign in Germany, in which the party of right-wing populists, founded in 2013, dominates the Internet, regardless of the longevity and number of conservatives and social democrats. The rules of the game are changing to such an extent that it is necessary to follow the events in the developed world, which will, sooner or later, be applied in our country as well. Having in mind the negative trends, there is a growing need for informative, research, ‘fiction checker’ internet portals in order to compare the content and make an appropriate conclusion about socio-political events.

With all this in mind, additional education is needed. It is commendable to publish the “Guide to Digital Youth Security – Protecting Privacy and Preventing Digital Violence” with the aim of strengthening the digital competencies of children and youth. Increasingly diverse digital tools, applications and platforms available to young people, in addition to their usability, expand the possibilities for abuse and the emergence of built-in errors that are extremely difficult to correct later.

Finally, I return to the Press Council as one of the key bright spots of the local media scene. All the more so because I do not understand the legislative tendencies that call into question his legitimacy. I understand that it bothers most those who violate the journalistic code on a daily basis and who think that by establishing satellite self-regulators, they will relativize the true achievements and professionalism of the only original Press World. It will be the same as with any copy. The original will be on the price. It is the same with the Press Council.