Press Council Survey: Are the media ready for internal codes of ethics
(Source: N1, Author: Beta ) The Press Council presented the research data that half of the respondents believe that the media in which they work has the capacity to draft an internal code of ethics, but a large part of the media would accept support and assistance in drafting that act.
A survey on “Are the media ready for internal codes of ethics” showed that more than 83 percent of the surveyed media do not have a training program for ethical conduct of journalists and editors, but 80 percent of them would accept help in drafting such a program.
More than half of the respondents answered positively to the question whether the media in which they work has the capacity to draft an internal code of ethics, and 87.5 percent of them would accept assistance in drafting that act.
“The largest number of media outlets state that training is the type of support needed – 63.6 percent. 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, ” the research results state.
One third of the media, according to the results, do not have a document with guidelines for supporting employees who have suffered some form of harassment, threats or attacks, and less than a third have such a document with guidelines for support.
When asked if there are rules and procedures in the media that protect employees from discrimination in the workplace, 75 percent of respondents said yes, while when asked if there are rules for safety at work, which include safety at work in a hostile environment (reporting from violent; protests or during war) 70.8 percent answered no.
The President of the Management Board of the Press Council, Stevan Ristic, announced at a video conference that the questionnaire was sent to 85 media addresses, and that 28 of them sent their answers.
The results showed that in 62.3 percent of cases, the business decision is most often made by the director, while the owner of the decision is made in 16.7 percent of cases, and in 58.3 percent the editor-in-chief is responsible for editing and content.
He added that in the case of 25 percent of the surveyed media, the editorial board is responsible for creating programs and content. Ristic said that 95.8 percent of the respondents stated that they were guided by the Code of Journalists of Serbia, and that all respondents thought that respecting the Code was important.