Press council: Srpski telegraf violates the Code with articles about Radomir Lazovic

(Source: Cenzolovka)

The Press Council’s Complaints Commission unanimously found that the  Srpski telegraf violated the code of journalists in articles mentioning Serbian Parliament member Radomir Lazovic and his father, the Association of Journalists of Serbia announced.

Lazovic complained about the article published on the front page of the daily Srpski telegraf and the content that was later in its online edition of Republika, in which he was presented as part of Veljko Belivuk’s criminal organisation, who is on trial for a series of murders. The MP sent a denial, but the editorial board of Srpski telegraf did not publish it, with the explanation that the disputed text was an opinion, not facts, and that a denial could not be published about something discussed in the parliamentary debate.

Lazovic also referred a complaint to the Press Council about an article stating that “his father raped an American woman.” The text was reportedly aimed at offending him by publishing unverified information from an anonymous source, misquoted his father’s name and it was indicated that there was no public interest in publishing this information.

Nadežda Budimović, representative of Local Press in the Complaints Commission, said that this text is an example of how othings should not be done in journalism, how media ownrship can be abused to influence citizens with a public words.

In addition, the UNS stated that the Complaints Commission unanimously ruled that Pećinačke novine violated the chapter Responsibility of journalists of the Code of journalists of Serbia for refusing to publish a denial by the Democratic Party to the statement of the Serbian Progressive Party mentioning the Democratic Party and farmers of that municipality. The president of the Municipal Committee of the Democratic Party in Pecinci, Nikola Mašić, stated in the complaint that several untruths were in the text, and the newspaper did not want to publish a denial.

This complaint, according to the representative of the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia in the Complaints Association, Tamara Skrozza, is important because, as she said, there are often publications of one side’s statements, and omitting the position of the other.

The Complaints Commission unanimously ruled that the Glas zapadne Srbije in the text “If it were not funny, it would be sad – Cacak women experinced to be led by Pavle Jelesiljević” violated the Code point on the ethics and culture of the public word, which belongs to the chapter Responsibility of Journalists. The activist Pavle Jelesiljevic complained, stating that many untruths were published in the text on that portal and that he was not given the opportunity to deny it.

The Commission also decided that the Alo newsroom did not violate Code by publishing a video of a man commenting on the World Cup.

Darko Gedžić complained about the fact that a journalist from the Alo portal recorded him, without telling him that this conversation would be published on the media’s YouTube channel and that he asked the editorial board to remove the video footage because of problems he might have at work, but that it was not done.

In response, The Alo newsroom stated that from the recording it can be seen that the interlocutor approached himself and that it was clear to him that he would be recorded, and what he was saying will be published.

Savet za štampu: Srpski telegraf prekršio kodeks tekstovima o Radomiru Lazoviću