BEOGRAD, 22.04.2020. – Srbija je pala za tri mesta na listi medijskih sloboda, koju je u okviru novog godišnjeg izveštaja za 2020. objavila organizacija Reporteri bez granica (RSF).

Od ukupno 180 rangiranih zemalja, Srbija se, sa skorom od 31,6, nalazi na 93. mestu, u grupi problematičnih zemalja, a slabije je kotirana od svih država regiona, osim Crne Gore, koja je na 105. mestu.

U izveštaju je stanje u Srbiji ocenjeno kao „zabrinjavajuće“, i konstatovano je da je posle šestogodišnje vladavine Aleksandra Vučića, prvo kao premijera a potom kao predsednika, „Srbija postala zemlja u kojoj je često opasno biti novinar i u kojoj lažne vesti alarmantnom brzinom postaju sve vidljivije i popularnije“. Prošle godine, Srbija se nalazila na 90. mestu sa ukupnim skorom od 31,18.

S obzirom da smo na istoj listi prošle godine zabeležili pad od čitavih deset mesta, a ništa se značajnije nije promenilo u tretmanu medija od strane države, ovogodišnji pad nije iznenađujuć, a očekivan je i gori rezultat, kaže Tamara Filipović iz Nezavisnog udruženja novinara Srbije (NUNS).

– NUNS beleži veći broj fizičkih napada, u 2019. taj broj je bio dvocifren, za razliku od ranijih godina. Broj verbalnih pretnji je približno isti u odnosu na prošlu godinu, bilo ih je više od 20, ali se broj pritisaka drastično uvećava iz godine u godinu, i to je nešto što čini da se novinarske slobode sužavaju kontinuirano, navodi Filipović za Danas. Ona ističe da se u poslednjih nekoliko godina u Srbiji „baštini politika suzbijanja svih disonantnih tonova u javnom mnjenju, pa tako i bilo kakvih kritika novinara usmerenih ka vlasti i vladajućim strukturama“.

– Sada, tokom vanrednog stanja, to kulminira i doživljava svoj maksimum. Tako smo prošle godine imali 80 prijavljenih pritisaka na novinare, dok smo samo u periodu od 15 marta do danas, zabeležili 40 takvih slučajeva, kaže Filipović i podseća da i dalje imamo dva ubistva novinara u predistražnom postupku, a samo jedan rešen pred sudovima u prvom stepenu, a zatim i slučaj Milana Jovanovića, čiji sudski postupak jeste u toku, ali „sa mnogo opstrukcija sa različitih strana“.

Vladimir Radomirović, predsednik Udruženja novinara Srbije (UNS) smatra neospornim da u Srbiji postoje problemi sa slobodom medija, od pritisaka vlasti i opozicije na novinare do teškog ekonomskog položaja novinara i redakcija.

– Međutim, istraživanje po kojem su mediji na Kosovu „slobodniji“ od onih u ostatku Srbije ima ozbiljnu metodološku manu, naročito u svetlu poslednjeg napada gotovo svih medija na albanskom jeziku na srpsku crkvu i zajednicu. Podsetiću vas da su ti mediji, uključujući javni servis RTK, objavili da su Albanci u Prištini „uznemireni“ zbog zvona („buke“) sa crkve Svetog Nikole, da Srpska pravoslavna crkva koristi „ruske metode“ u borbi protiv koronavirusa i da su naši manastiri „puni ruskih špijuna“. Iz takozvane međunarodne zajednice nismo čuli nijednu reč osude tog brutalnog napada na jedan već ugroženi narod a sad saznajemo da su mediji na Kosovu „slobodniji“ od onih u ostatku naše zemlje. Imajući ovo u vidu, našu slobodu i ovakvu kakva jeste ne bih menjao za „slobodu“ kosovskih medija, decidan je Radomirović.

Nadležne institucije, pak, organizacija poput Reportera bez granica, i dalje ne uzimaju kao relevantne izvore, pa i dovode u pitanje i podatke koje oni objavljuju, ne smatrajući ih verodostojnim.

– I ove godine, kao i prošle ne mogu, a da se ne zapitam na osnovu kojih parametara Reporteri bez granica donose svoje zaključke i na osnovu čega su registrovali pad Srbije na lestvici medijskih sloboda. Sa velikom zadrškom prihvatam izveštaje i RSF i Fridom hausa i veliki sam skeptik po ovom pitanju. Smatram da je ceo proces politizovan iako ne znam iz kog razloga. Moram da priznam da ne razumem na osnovu kojih elemenata su oni došli do zaključka da su medijske slobode veće na primer u Slovačkoj, Češkoj nego u Srbiji. Smatram da su ovde medijske slobode sasvim korektne u odnosu na druge zemlje u Evropi, kaže za Danas državni sekretar u Ministarstvu kulture Aleksandar Gajović.

On dodaje da to što se kao argument navodi još nerešen slučaj novinara Jovanovića, zapravo „cinizam“, jer „pravosuđe ne može samo time da se bavi“, i pita „u kojoj se to zemlji brzo rešavaju ovakvi slučajevi“.

– Navodi se i da je Srbija preplavljena lažnim vestima, a ovo je problem u celom svetu, ne samo kod nas. Mi se neprekidno borimo protiv ove pojave i nećemo prestajati. Ministarstvo kulture i informisanja neprekidno prati sva dešavanja u medijima i, u odnosu na svoja ovlašćenja, uvek reaguje, ali i apeluje da mediji realno izveštavaju. Podsećam da nigde u svetu nema da se predsednik i premijer jedne države skoro svaki dan pojavljuju na konferencijama za novinare i da odgovaraju na sva novinarska pitanja, kaže Gajović i dodaje da „Reporteri bez granica nisu fer ili su ljubomorni na rezultate ove Vlade“ kada je reč o borbi protiv pandemije virusa kovid 19, kao i da „nije korektno da u trenutku te velike borbe oni pominju medijske slobode, jer se Srbija nalazi u vanrednom, a ne redovnom stanju“.

Zvaničnici protiv novinara zapaljivom retorikom

U izveštaju RSF stoji da je broj napada na medije naglo porastao, dok zvaničnici sve više koriste zapaljivu retoriku protiv novinara. „Neki hrabri novinari nastavljaju da obrađuju opasne teme poput kriminala i korupcije. Ali zbog velike koncentracije medijskog vlasništva u zemlji, njihove su priče obično dostupne samo na Internetu“, navodi se u delu izveštaja za Srbiju. Razlog za zabrinutost RSF vide i u dogovorima između političara i medija, široko rasprostranjenim lažnim vestima koje vlasti tolerišu i maltretiranju uzbunjivača Aleksandra Obradovića.

SKOPJE, 22.04.2020 – With the extension of the state of emergency in the country, AJM believes that there must be a way for better communication and transparency in the relationship between government institutions and health centers in order to guarantee freedom of expression and the right to information. The Association of Journalists of Macedonia believes that there are many ways to improve the cooperation between journalists, media and institutions, given all the remarks that have reached us so far from our membership.

We as an organization, as well as many of our members, are dissatisfied with the lack of two-way live communication through video tools during ministerial press conferences. With the current practice, through this communication, journalists are not given enough space to have an additional question or comment on a given answer. This way the interlocutor does not always answer the question, and has an opportunity to be selective in his responses. Therefore, we demand from the Government to leave enough time to journalists to ask additional questions, in order to provide complete information from the interlocutor.

The second option, which we believe has the potential to be implemented, is to hold open-air press conferences when the weather conditions allow (in front of the Government or at another convenient location) with physical distance between journalists, but also between journalists and interlocutors. This is the recommendation of AJM and our partner organization the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), which suggests to all its’ European members. This option should not exclude the first option because it proved to be useful for journalists from other cities.

• In this section we want to send a critique of the last press conference organized in Kumanovo. According to our colleagues, it was organized indoors with the presence of several interlocutors, journalists and media workers, who had physical contact with each other. Then we found out that the mayor was infected with COVID-19, which put our colleagues at risk.
• In addition, one more we reiterate that the Government should not curtail the right to questions and participation in press conferences for online media which are not in the Register of Professional Online Media. We remind that the Registry is a voluntary organization, and it is not designed for that purpose, but in order for the public and the business community to recognize professional media.
• In terms of transparency, the institutions should not share information only with certain journalists and media outlets before the press conferences and thus to ensure exclusiveness to certain media, as opposed to others who are instructed to follow the press conferences. When the whole country faces such a delicate situation, all media should have equal access to information which is important to the public.
• The show, titled “Covid -19 – Questions and Answers: Everything About the Coronavirus” recently organized by the Government, where civil servants appeared as journalists, and thus excluded critical questions is a negative example of communication with citizens and a practice that is an insult to professional journalists. Therefore, such communication formats by government officials need to be avoided in the future.
• In the last period on several occasions government officials announced new legal decrees sanctioning fake news and fight with certain media. We remind that the main task of the institutions at this time should be to ensure maximum transparency over the crisis caused by the pandemic and the economic crisis, and not to deal with restrictions on freedom of expression. The best way to defactorize misinformation is greater transparency and the use of self-regulation in the media.
• Regarding the freedom of movement of journalists during the curfew, we once again point out that the Government should not restrict the movement of journalists from the media who are not part of the Register of the Council for Media Ethics in Macedonia (CEMM) and AJM.
• Due to the fact that journalists, in addition to healthcare professionals, may be at risk for coronavirus infection, we believe that institutions must provide more effective conditions for testing journalists and media workers if requested.

On the other hand, we welcome the Government’s decision to provide a minimum wage for journalists and media workers, a measure we have publicly demanded together with the Journalists’ Union in order to facilitate the work of the media in this difficult period. AJM points to the risk that if the crisis continues in the coming months, it is necessary to consider additional measures to overcome the economic difficulties of the media and avoid firing journalists and media workers. These measures should be effective and include not only traditional media but also online media, because they did not receive any financial assistance in the past month.

Finally, we wish to emphasize that in a global pandemic, today more than ever, we need quality corespondents. It turned out that correspondents in such a situation are very important for both the media and the citizens. Therefore, we believe that additional efforts should be made to secure their place in the newsrooms. We remind of the recommendations of AJM for improving the correspondent networks of MRTV and MIA with legal changes, but also with recommendations to national televisions and daily newspapers.

SKOPJE, 21.04.2020 – This year’s Reporters Without Borders Index, which measures media freedom in countries around the world, was released today. North Macedonia has jumped 3 places on this list and is now ranked 92nd out of 180 countries in the world.

Regarding the situation in our country, it is stated that: “In the field of enhancing self-regulation and working standards of the professional journalists, there are two ground-breaking achievements: A Register of Professional Online Media which has about 120 members was created by the Council of Media Ethics (CMEM) and AJM. The initiative promotes self-regulation of online media by committing them to respect the Code of Journalists and publishing decisions by the CMEM. The Charter on journalists’ working conditions and the draft Fair Working Contract for journalists and media workers in digital media was also signed by Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) in collaboration with AJM and the CMEM, committing to respect all journalists’ and media workers’ labor rights, their freedom of expression as well as ethical and professional standards”.

One of the problems highlighted in Reporters Without Borders’ report is the funding of the media by municipalities, despite the ban on this practice. In addition, the buying of space in the media for promoting the achievements of the Government is criticized, something that was condemned by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia.

It is noted in the report that the number of physical attacks on journalists and media workers had decreased, but that the number of cyber-attacks was on the rise. The stagnation of the reform in the public service was criticized as well.

According to the latest media freedom index, from the neighboring countries, ranked above North Macedonia are: Greece in 65th place, Kosovo in 70th place and Albania in 84th place, while behind us are Serbia in 93rd place, Montenegro in 105th and Bulgaria in 111th place.

PRISTINA, 21.04.2020 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) expresses concern over the findings of the organization “Reporters Without Borders”, on the state of media freedom in Kosovo, in the report published for 2020.

Kosovo ranks 70th in the world in terms of press freedom but despite progress in five positions, compared to 2019, the AJK considers that the report reflects the real, unsatisfactory state of media freedom in Kosovo.

The report highlights the continuing instability of the media, where, like almost everything else in the country, it remains divided along ethnic lines. The report notes that access to information is often limited to one ethnic or political group, with most media outlets reporting mainly on issues related to their nationality. Some of the common concerns, according to the report, are physical and verbal attacks on journalists, cyber attacks on online media, and a lack of transparency regarding media ownership.

According to the Reporters Without Borders index, many media outlets in Kosovo do not have financial sustainability, which makes them sensitive to political influences, and this often results in self-censorship. They are on the verge of extinction, surviving largely on foreign donations. The report concludes that so far, the fates of numerous journalists in Kosovo remain unknown to date, including those journalists who went missing or were abducted during the 1999 conflict.

AJK estimates that the findings of this report should be an alarm for the country’s institutions in order to create a better and safer environment for journalism.

The 2020 World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the situation for journalists in 180 countries worldwide, warns that the next decade will be decisive for the future of journalism, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that will produce many crises that threaten the right to free reporting, independent, diverse and credible information.

According to the Index, from the countries of the region, BiH is ranked 59th, Albania – 84th, Northern Macedonia – 92nd, Serbia – 93rd, and Montenegro -105th.

PARIS, 21.04.2020. – According to this year’s World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organization based in Paris that advocates media freedom, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks 58th out of 180 countries worldwide, up five places compared to last year.

The report by RSF states that polarised political climate, marked by constant verbal attacks and nationalist rhetoric, has created a hostile environment for press freedom.

-Editorial policies reflecting ethnic divisions and hate speech are ever more evident. Journalists are attacked for their ethnic origins as well as what they write. Defamation suits by politicians often serve to intimidate journalists and deter them from pursuing their work. The instrumentalisation of the media for political purposes continues, and this is increasingly evident in the case of public service broadcasters – says the report.

The critics are also addressed the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. It is emphasized that while investigative journalists have brought several significant scandals to light in recent months – allegations of corruption involving top court officials, issuing fake high school diplomas, reports of attempts by neighboring Croatia to portray Bosnia-Herzegovina as a terrorist hub – the State Prosecution did little to tackle the problems.

-Media ownership concentration is a source of concern, especially as ownership is not transparent. Employment conditions for journalists are precarious: they are hired on short contracts and are paid little – the report concludes.

According to this year’s World Press Freedom Index, Croatia is ranked just behind BiH – 59th, Albania ranked 84th, Northern Macedonia ranked 92nd, Serbia ranked 93rd, and Montenegro ranked 105th. Of the former Yugoslav republics, Slovenia is the best listed and is ranked 32nd.

SARAJEVO, 21.04.2020. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line send a public protest to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Tuzla Canton and the Police Directorate of TK, for unlawfully preventing the RTV Slon media crew from Tuzla in performing professional journalistic tasks by members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of TK.

According to information available to BH Journalists and the Free Media Help Line, at 8:30 pm on April 20, police officers of the Tuzla Police Directorate stopped the RTV Slon crew, temporarily seized their cellphone and deleted all the footage of the event they were reporting about. We emphasize that the RTV Slon reporter crew had valid press credentials and a permit to move during curfew.

The Steering Committee of the BHJA and the Free Media Help Line strongly condemn such behavior by members of the Ministry of the Interior of Tuzla Canton, which represents a harsh attack on media and journalistic freedoms. We welcome the reaction of the TK Crisis Staff, the Director of the TK Police Directorate, and the Head of the PU Center, who immediately took all necessary steps to sanction the inappropriate actions of police officers.

In a state of emergency, when they report daily on the field on all current events related to the Covid-19 pandemic, risking their lives to bring timely and verified information to the public, such behavior towards media professionals by individuals who should equally protect all citizens, including journalists, is unacceptable and completely unfounded.

The BH Journalists Steering Committee requires the Tuzla Cantonal Ministry of Interior officials to investigate the case as a matter of urgency and to sanction members of the police who have unlawfully prevented the RTV Slon crew from performing their tasks. The cooperation of representatives of cantonal, entity and state institutions with journalists and other media professionals, with mutual respect and respect for all professional and legal norms, is especially important at a time when the basic imperative for all should be the well-being of citizens and their right to information, which cannot exist with the limitation and restriction of media rights and freedoms.