REPORT FROM DISCUSSION “ARE THE MEDIA READY FOR INTERNAL CODES”
(held on January 28, 2022 through the ZOOM platform)
Very few media in Serbia have a statement on the editorial mission, a set of principles or a similar document related to the principles of editorial policy, and mostly online media are interested in drafting internal codes of ethics, most of which would accept expert help in drafting and implementing such a document. These are some of the results of the research of the Press Council, which was presented at the online forum held on January 28, 2022.
Adoption and implementation of internal codes of journalistic practice is one of the activities from the action plan for the implementation of media strategy, and the Press Council, as it was announced, considered that the first step was to conduct a survey on how many media outlets have such codes and do they have the capacity to develop and implement them themselves, or what kind of help they need.
As Gordana Novaković, Secretary General of the Press Council, explained, the Code of Journalists of Serbia, according to which the Press Council works, was adopted in 2006, and in 2016 the Council drafted special Guidelines for the application of the Code in online media. Nevertheless, the Press Council and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, which financially supported the project, believe that there is space and need for media outlets to draft their own internal rules, primarily to protect editorial autonomy from economic and political influences of owners, i.e. publishers, which is especially important for public services and media in the languages of national minorities, which were also surveyed.
The results of the survey were presented by Stevan Ristic, President of the Managing Board of the Press Council and author of the research. He stated that the online survey was conducted on an available sample of 85 owners, directors and editors-in-chief of television, daily newspapers, periodicals, radio and online media, including both public media services and nine minority language media. A total of 28 media responded, of which one public service – Radio-Television of Vojvodina, two “minority media” – Hlas Ljudu and Publishing house Makedonski informativni i izdavački centar d.o.o. Pancevo, four more televisions and five radio stations, four publishers of periodicals, one daily, one weekly and one news agency, while the others are the portal. When asked if they have a set of principles related to editorial policy or a similar document, more than half of the respondents (52.2%) answered positively, while 76% would accept help in drafting that document. Only in 14% of cases do the media keep this type of document publicly available.
Few media interested in self-regulation
All media responded positively to the question of whether they recognize the jurisdiction of the Press Council, while two thirds of the respondents say that the information on the recognition of competence is clearly indicated, by vignette or otherwise. Every day, 95.8% of respondents are guided by the Code of Journalists of Serbia, while all respondents believe that compliance with the Code is important. 91.7 percent believe that the Code of Journalists of Serbia covers all important aspects of responsible journalism, and the same number of respondents say that they introduce novice journalists to the Code of Journalists of Serbia, in case they are not (sufficiently) familiar with them. It is interesting that the same percentage of respondents answered that all hired journalists in their newsrooms are familiar with the Code of Journalists of Serbia.
Respondents from online media say that 81.8% of them use the Guidelines for the application of the Code of Journalists of Serbia in the online environment. More than half of the respondents (54.2) answered positively to the question “Does your media have the capacity to draft an internal code of ethics”, and 87.5% would accept assistance in drafting that act. The largest number of media (63.6%) state training as a type of necessary support. At the same time, they are interested in expert support and talks with other media in order to exchange experiences and help with the development of an internal code of ethics. To the question “Do you have rules and procedures in your media that protect employees from discrimination in the workplace” 75% answered yes, while to the question “Do your media have rules for safety at work, which include safety at work in in a hostile environment (reporting from violent protests or during hostilities) ”70.8% answered no. Among about a third of respondents who answered yes to the previous question, only 29.4% have an engaged person who is responsible for the application of these rules.
Stevan Ristic pointed out that it is obvious that only a small number, out of a total of about 2,500 media outlets in Serbia, are interested in self-regulation, and that the questionnaire was not sent to those media outlets that violate the Serbian Journalists’ Code. project co-financing of media content turned the state into subsidizing the obedient media.
Full text in Serbian https://savetzastampu.rs/lat/izvestaji/izvestaj-sa-tribine-da-li-su-mediji-spremni-za-interne-kodekse/