(2022) PRESS COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT

Work of the Appeals Commission

The Press Council received 84 complaints from January to December 2022, which is less than the previous year, when 110 complaints were received. Seven complaints were resolved through mediation, 12 complaints were rejected because they did not meet the formal requirements (most often because the complainant was not personally harmed), and in only three cases did the Commission decide that the Journalists’ Code was not violated.

Last year, the members of the Complaints Commission of the Press Council most often decided that the media violated the points from the fourth chapter of the Code of Journalists, which refers to the responsibility of journalists, and from the truthfulness of reporting section (33 times each), as well as from the respect for privacy section – 26 times. In almost all cases, one text violated several points of the Code.

The largest number of complaints were filed by individuals – 53 of them, non-governmental organizations filed 13 complaints, members of the Complaints Commission 15, four complaints organizations and institutions and only one media representative.

Complaints submitted from January to December 2022:

1. Dragoljub Petrovic – Informer.rs – public warning

2. Katarina Sremcevic – Mondo – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

3. Nebojsa Krstic – Danas – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

4. Zlatko Cobovic – Alo.rs – public warning

5. Natasa Stojkovic – Resetka.rs – the applicant withdrew the appeal

6. Natasa Stojkovic – Resetka.rs (II) – public warning

7. Dr. Dragan Antic – Blic – violated the Code, the decision was not published

8. Miodrag Andrejevic – Javni servis.net – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

9. Slavica Stojkovic, Ivana Nikolic and Marija Hrnjaz – Kurir.rs – Code violated, decision announced

10. Jelka Jovanovic – Novosti.rs – the Code was violated, the decision was published

11. Jelka Jovanovic – Kurir.rs – Code violated, decision published

12. Jelka Jovanovic – Blic.rs – the Code was violated, the decision was not published

13. Dr. Dragan Antic – Blic (II) – violated the Code, the decision was not published

14. Association of Roma citizens (Roma World) – Danas – the commission failed to agree on a decision

15. OMV – Infomer.rs – public warning

16. Ivana Zivkov – Zrenjaninski.com – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

17. A 11 Initiative for Economic and Social Rights – Today (appeal considered together with Roma World) – the commission failed to agree on the decision

18. Autonomous Women’s Center – Tanjug – complaint resolved through mediation, response published

19. Aleksandar Djeric – Nova.rs – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

20. Miroslav Paroskaj – Website of the Serbian Orthodox Church – rejected appeal, the portal is not under the jurisdiction of the Press Council

21. Vladana Djurisic – Resurs.rs – rejected appeal, does not refer to media content

22. Syndicate RTS – Blic.rs – the Code was violated, the decision was not published

23. AC “Slovak women are not thin, nor totice, nor scum” – Novosti.rs – complaint resolved by mediation, text removed

24th AC “Slovak women are not thin, nor totice, nor skunks” – Dnevnik.rs – public warning

25. Tamara Skrozza – Story – the Code was violated, the decision was not published

26. Natasa Stojkovic – Resetka.rs – public warning

27. Belgrade Pride – Kurir.rs – complaint resolved by mediation, text removed

28. Belgrade Pride – RTV.rs – complaint resolved by mediation, text removed and apology published

29. Chamber of Social Protection – Blic.rs – the Code was violated, the decision was not published

30. Chamber of Social Protection – Nova.rs – public warning

31. Wallachian People’s Party – Alo.rs – Code violated, decision published

32. Chamber of Social Protection – Telegraf.rs – Code violated, decision published

33. Nadezda Mirkovic – Sremoskomitrovački portal – public warning

34. Vukasin Obradovic – Objektiv – public warning

35. Pavle Antic – Alo.rs – violated the Code, published decision

36. Pavle Antic – Pink.rs – public warning

37. Pavle Antic – Blic.rs – violated the Code, the decision was not published

38. Miroslav Injac – Ozonpress.net – Code violated, decision published

39. Zlatko Cobovic – Informer.rs – public warning

40. Zlatko Cobovic – Kurir.rs – complaint resolved by mediation, texts removed

41. Zlatko Cobovic – Republika.rs – public warning

42. Zlatko Cobovic – Alo.rs – violated the Code, published decision

43. Zlatko Cobovic – Objektiv.rs – public warning

44. Zlatko Cobovic – Blic.rs – violated the Code, the decision was not published

    45. Mara Pavlovic – Starčevačke novine – rejected appeal, the applicant is not personally harmed

46. ​​Goran Miletic (Civil Right Defenders) – Pečat – public warning

47. Zlatko Cobovic – Espreso.rs – complaint resolved by mediation, text removed

48. Zlatko Cobovic – Informer.rs – public warning

49. Zlatko Cobovic – Objektiv.rs – public warning

50. Zlatko Cobovic – Alo.rs – violated the Code, published decision

51. Jasmina Andric – Žiginfo – public warning

52. Velimir Bulatovic – Infovranjske – public warning

53. Julijana Bandurik – Novosti.rs – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

54. Slobodan Simic – Žiginfo – the Code was not violated

55. Kyokushinkai Federation of Serbia – Žiginfo – appeal rejected, the Commission already decided on the appeal on the same text

56. Doctors and parents for science and ethics – Blic.rs – the Code was violated, the decision was not published

57. Marija Vukas – Informer – complaint considered with the complaint of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

58. Natasa Stanojevic – Informer – complaint considered with the complaint of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

59.Marija Nikolic – Informer – appeal considered with the appeal of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

60. Ivana Jelaca – Informer – complaint considered with the complaint of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

61. Autonomous Women’s Center – Informer.rs – public warning

62. Jelena Ristic – Informer – complaint considered with the complaint of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

63. Dusan Lajovic – Informer – complaint considered with the complaint of the Autonomous Women’s Center – public warning

64. Center for social work Leskovac – Glas Javnosti – public warning

65.Valentina Arsic Arsenijevic – Blic.rs – violated the Code, the decision was not published

66. Anja Andjus – Kurir.rs – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

67. The request of the Danas for the Commission to give an opinion on whether they violated the Code – the Code was not violated

68. Aleksandar Markovic – Informer.rs – public warning

69. Bozo Prelevic – Informer.rs – public warning

70. Nikola Mazic (MB DP Pecinci) – Pećinacke novine – public warning

71. Zeljko Matorcevic – Srpski telegraf – appeal rejected, the applicant was not personally harmed

72. Pavle Jelesijevic – Glas zapadne Srbije – public warning

73. Darko Gedzic – Alo.rs – the Code was not violated

74. Radomir Lazovic – Srpski telegraf/Republika.rs – public warning

75. Radomir Lazovic – Srpski telegraf/Republika.rs (II) – public warning

76. Srdjan Nonic – Južne vesti – the Code was not violated

77. Alzbeta Morckova – Danas.rs – complaint resolved through mediation, text removed

78. Nenad Nesovic – Glas zapadne Srbije – public warning

79. Nenad Nesovic – Glas zapadne Srbije (II) – public warning

80. Nenad Nesovic – Informer.rs – public warning

81. Nenad Nesovic – Media portal – public warning

82. Nenad Nesovic – PP Media – public warning

83. Nenad Nesovic – Zlatar Info – public warning

84. Mia Kulic – Resetka.rs – public warning

Due to the covid-19 epidemic, the sessions of the Commission were held online in January and February. In April, not a single complaint was filed, so the Commission session was not held. During the year, the Commission held one public session outside the Council headquarters – in July at the IJAV premises in Novi Sad.

In order to achieve greater publicity of the work of the Commission, integral recordings of all sessions were published on the Internet. The most interesting cases considered by the Commission were presented at the forums in January and July.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Monitoring of daily newspapers

The Press Council, with the support of IJAS and the Embassy of the United States of America in Belgrade, monitored compliance with the Code of Journalists of Serbia in nine daily newspapers with national coverage in the period from the beginning of October to the end of January 2023. The results were presented at a forum held in February 2023. According to those results, a total of 2653 texts were recorded in which at least one point of the Code was violated (although in most cases several points were violated). If we compare this finding with findings from the same period in previous years – let’s take October as the only month in which, from 2018 to 2022, regular monitoring was carried out – it is noticeable that we cannot speak of a clear trend of growth or decline in the observed number of violations of the Code . This year, a decrease in the number of violations was observed, but this happened before, so, as a rule, the following year was marked by a higher frequency of violations of the rules of professional journalism.

As in previous years, the Code was most often violated in reporting on domestic political topics, criminal acts and entertainment topics. The novelty is that this year the number of violations recorded on the foreign policy pages of newspapers has increased, caused by tendentious reporting on the war in Ukraine.

The constant of these monitorings is that the points of chapter 4 are most often violated: first of all, point 3, which refers to the violation of the right to the presumption of innocence (prohibition of publishing data that points to the identity of a person suspected of a criminal offense), point 6, which prescribes the obligation to respect culture and ethics public words, as well as point 7 concerning covert (unmarked) advertising. When it comes to point 3, not necessarily the identity, but a series of data that point to the identity of the suspect is continuously published: a photo of his house, the names of his relatives or immediate family, typical occupation, position in the community from which he comes, etc.

When it comes to Chapter 4, a large number of texts fueling stereotypes and inter-ethnic intolerance is still noticeable.

A major problem remains the violation of Chapter 7, which guarantees respect for privacy. The media deviate from this rule most often in the case of family tragedies – when they convey information about the private life of the victims and their families, or report on funerals. The most common conclusion is that it is done for commercial reasons, by attracting the audience by finding or inventing “juicy” details related to the victims of violence.

Research “Co-financing of media that violate ethical standards 2019-2021.”

The research, which was funded by UNESCO and the European Union, showed that in the last three years, less and less money has been allocated in competitions for the co-financing of media content, and a noticeable decrease in the number of tenders announced and the total number of projects registered.

The researchers concluded that such trends are directly contrary to the goals of the media strategy for the period 2020-2025, in which it is stated that the non-announcement of tenders is one of the main types of economic pressure of local authorities on media that are not loyal to the regime.

The research also showed that the media that violated the Code of Journalists of Serbia in the year preceding the competition still received funds, but also that the number of co-financed projects of such media was smaller. It is also noticeable that in 2020 and 2021 these media competed with fewer projects than in 2019.

The researchers conclude that this outcome was probably influenced by the work of the Press Council, which enabled citizens to submit complaints for violations of the Journalists’ Code and informed local governments that announce contests about which media did not respect the ethical standards of the profession.

Write your internal code

The Press Council, with the support of the OSCE, worked with the media to write their internal codes of good journalistic practice and thus supported the implementation of Activity 1.5.3 of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Media Strategy. Seven media (News agency Beta, Storyteller, Magločistač, Lozničke novosti, MIRC Niš, Sremske novine and TV Info Puls Vranje), with the help of two trainers, defined their needs for an internal code at a preparatory meeting and worked on writing the code during the fall. In order to share the results with interested parties, the Press Council organized a forum in November where two trainers and two media representatives discussed the benefits of developing and using internal codes.

Based on the work on internal codes, an online training module was created with the aim of facilitating the development of their own internal codes for newspapers, news portals and electronic media.

Exhibition “Fake News”

The exhibition for young people continues its tour. In May and October, it was presented to the students of the First Belgrade High School and the Smederevo High School. In Belgrade, the general secretary held a public class for over 60 students, while in Smederevo, a member of the Complaints Commission, Olivera Milosevic, said at the opening, “We talk to young people in this way because they are the most susceptible to misinformation.” The teachers were satisfied that they had an unusual teaching tool while children showed interest in the exhibition. So far, 4,220 students have seen the exhibition, and this activity was financially supported by UNESCO and the European Union.

Other activities

During 2022, the Press Council responded to 77 inquiries from local governments for a total of 1,179 media that participated in competitions for co-financing media content of public interest. In several cases, the money was awarded to media outlets that the Complaints Commission decided to have violated the Journalists’ Code several times in one year. The number of media is higher than the previous year when there were 1,122.

In order to ensure greater visibility of the work of the Complaints Commission during the year, a journalist was hired who wrote six reports from the Commission’s sessions, which she published on the IJAS website. The effort resulted in a greater number of other media reports on the activities of the Complaints Commission.

A video editor was hired to produce short segments that were distributed on social networks with an invitation to watch the video of the complaints in question. These 14 clips have been viewed 2,323 times. Since the short segments are related to thethematic units from the Code, the series was named “Examples from Practice” and it was included as a training module in the part of the site that is used for online training.

The Press Council participated in the online campaign against disinformation “Ethics4Truth” with other counclis from the region. The campaign lasted 10 days during June.

OSCE Ambassador Jan Braathu and Ambassador of Norway, Jern Eugen Jelsta, visited the Council.

Participation in public events:

“Freedom of expression in court: second regular report on the protection of freedom of expression in the judicial system of Serbia” (CEPRIS)

“Towards a new partnership between the judiciary and the media” (Council of Europe)

“Hate speech” conference (Media diversity institute)

Conference “Responsibility in the protection of children’s rights” (Provincial Protector of Citizens)

Promotion of the annual report Indicators for the Level of Media Freedom 2021 (IJAS)

Annual meeting of the Association of Independent European Press Councils (AIPCE)

Annual meeting of media from the region (EU)

Designed Society – Artificial Intelligence and Freedom of Expression (OSCE)

Roundtable on Ethical Reporting on Refugees and Asylum Seekers entitled “Change the Story” (Center for Research and Development of Society IDEAS)

Mental Health Panel (Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue)

“The European Code of Good Practice in the fight against disinformation – a step in the right direction” (EU)

Ethical standards in journalism (AIPCE)

Meeting with the OSCE representative for media freedom, Teresa Ribeiro (OSCE)

“Democracy; minimum consensus” (CRTA)