Press council: Portals did not violate the Code by publishing the Ministry of the Interior statement about “false rape”, but they did provide unnecessary details
(Source: JAS)
The Press Council’s Complaints Commission decided that the Code of Journalists of Serbia was violated by media Glas zapadne Srbije, Srpski Telegraf, Informer, Zlatar info, Media portal and PP media. Members of this commission also found that the Code was not violated by the portals Južne vesti and Rešetka, as well as six other media outlets the Autonomous Women’s Center brought complaints against.
The Autonomous Women’s Center (AWC) filed complaintd against ten portals for publishing a text stating that a woman from Leskovac reported a “false rape” to the police. The text said she fabricated that she was raped to “get revenge on her ex-boyfriend” and was “prone to alcohol”, an anonymous source said.
As stated by the AWC, by omitting the identity of the source, there was room for doubt about the veracity of the data published in the text and the very existence of that source.
The information that the rape was false was conveyed from the statement of the Ministry of Interior. Nevertheless, the Autonomous Women’s Center assessed that such media coverage, which enters into unsubstantiated and unnecessary details, can lead to a decrease in public empathy towards victims.
Complaints against portals Mondo, Niške vesti, Luftika and Direktno.rs were resolved by agreement, i.e. by publishing the reaction of the AWC to this text.
The response to the complaint was sent by the editorial offices of Telegraf, Alo and Novosti portals, while the editorial offices of Nova.rs, Informer and Pink did not do so.
The Telegraph said it had consulted multiple sources and that these were not baseless accusations, slander or rumors.
In response to the complaint, the lawyers of the Alo editorial office stated that the basic information was transferred from the statement of the Ministry of interior, and that the text made a distinction between that and the information received from the interlocutor. They added that this text was carried from the Telegraph. The goal, they said, was not to disparage anyone, but to inform the public about an event of public importance.
Novosti portal editor Andrijana Nešić also stated that this is a text that was carried from Telegraf and pointed out that journalists have the right to protect their source. An unnamed source, she added, may not always be unreliable.
Member of the Complaints Commission Vida Petrović Skero said that it was good that this topic was on the agenda and that it was discussed. As she said, it would by no means be good to dismiss the complaint, because the topic is in the sphere of Activity of the AWC. However, Skero said she believes the code has not been broken.
She added that the disputed text can be seen as a reaction to the first published information, i.e. the need to inform the public that the event did not take place as originally announced.
As stated in the decision, the majority of members of the Commission considered that due to the importance and sensitivity of the topic, but also because of previous, unprofessional and sensationalist disclosures, it is difficult to decide on the violation of a specific point of the Code.
“Whether such reporting could affect the reporting of some future rape and empathy of the public towards victims, as indicated by the complainant, is within the scope of assumptions that the Commission cannot answer, nor does this question fall within the domain of the code of ethics,” the Complaints Commission said.
Representative of the Media Association in the Complaints Commission Bojan Cvejic said that the text can be reduced to one general point of violation of the Code.
“Unnecessary details and questions are presented here — whether the girl is labile, whether she gave herself up to acohol, whether she was drunk, for which she filed a complaint. These things are not of interest to the public and to this case,” Cvejić explained.
Jelka Jovanovic and Nadežda Budimović also agreed, they also voted that the code to be violated, while Olivera Milosevic abstained. Other members felt that there were no violations of the code.
All members of the Commission agreed in the statement that the media should also think about the impact on the audience in the way they report, given the particular sensitivity of this topic.
The Complaints Commission recommended that the media be especially careful when writing about such cases, since these are events that disturb the public and can have serious consequences for the further lives of people involved in these events.
Members of the Commission also pointed out that the growing tendency of leaking information from competent institutions regarding such sensitive events and topics is worrying.
Authore: A. Nicic