There is consensus in the media community about creating transparency in the media sector

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31/01/2018

SARAJEVO, 26.01.2018.-The media community-supported initiative for adoption of a legal framework that will ensure transparency of media ownership and financing and regulate advertising segment. This is a result of the first expert debate titled “Seeking better regulation of the transparency of ownership and public financing of the media” held within the EU funded project “Media and public reputation“ in Sarajevo on 26 January.

Addressing the audience, Vladimir Pandurević, Programme Manager at the European Union Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stated that „there is no strategic document defining the public interest in the media and this is why the outcomes of the project Media and public reputation are extremely important“.

According to the Secretary-General of the Association BH novinari (BiH Journalists) Borka Rudić, the consequences of the lack of regulation in this area are „the disintegration of the journalistic ethics and quality of journalism as well as degradation of the public interest function of the media companies“.

Political Advisor to the European Union Special Representative Jasna Jelisić reminded of the latest European Commission’s Reports on BiH which indicated the need to secure the transparency of media ownership in BiH as one of the key priorities in the media sector. „Among other things, the EC report gives a clear recommendation to BiH authorities to take this matter into consideration as soon as possible, and have stressed on several occasions that media freedom issues will also be considered when issuing the European Commission Opinion on BiH application for membership “.

The professor from the Faculty of Political Science Lejla Turčilo stressed the need to restore the connection between quality media and citizens that can recognize them. „It is citizens’ right to know that they have access to true, objective and fair information, but also to be familiar with the mechanisms of influence of those who create that information“, said Turčilo.

The implementing Consortium advocates the adoption of the laws with the aim of achieving EU standards in regulating the concentration and transparency of media ownership. The purpose of adopting these legal regulations is to prevent the conflict of interest, increase the value of the media market and media sustainability through a transparent allocation of the public funds to the media.

Legal regulations should also contribute to the prevention of abuse in the said areas, improve media integrity, encourage lawful functioning of the media and real media pluralism, thereby contributing to democracy building. The draft laws are also to incorporate regulations on monitoring of the enforcement of the laws as well as sanction mechanisms.

The debate was organized within the project “Media and public reputation“, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Consortium: BH Novinari, Mediacentar Sarajevo, BiH Press Council and Association JaBiHEU.

Triple hacking of talk show website

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AJK

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30/01/2018

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PRISTINA, 30.01.2018 – Website of talk show “Slobodno srpski” is hacked three times within three days. The attack was signed by Triger-X.

Budimir Nicic, author and moderator of the show which is broadcasted in Radiotelevision of Kosovo, reported the case on Tuesday to Kosovo police.

“In fact, in my return from police station, when I entered my office, I’ve seen that the site was attacked again, for the third time,” Nicic told Association of Journalists of Kosovo.

He said that the first hacking happened on January 28^th, 2018, after he promoted in social media the coming interview with president of Citizen’s Initiative “Za nas Zvecan” (For our Zvecan), Dragisa Milovic, who talked about the latest political situation in the northern part of Kosovo.

Second attack occurred after interview was broadcasted the same day. This was the first time the website was attacked, Nicic added.

He said to expect from authorities to find the persons behind the hacking.

“I don’t know if this has to do with my job, respectively with my latest guest, but the hacking of the site for three times, in a short period of time, I am experiencing this as a pressure,” Nicic said.

Budimir Nicic is the president of Association of Serb Journalists in Kosovo.

Serbia: State of media freedoms and recommendations by the EFJ lead mission

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IJAS

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30/01/2018

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BELGRADE, 30.01.2018. – The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS) presented key findings of its latest annual research Indicators on the level of media freedom and journalists’ safety – 2017. The event was closed with the press conference of an international delegation, headed by the European Federation of Journalists that visited Serbia with an aim to determine the level of media freedoms in Serbia.

In the presence of more than 90 journalists, media, media experts and representatives other relevant stakeholders, a day’s conference was opened by Dragan Janjic, IJAS vice president and Andrea Oricio Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Dragan Janjic highlighted that the physical attacks on journalists have been reduced, but continued to exist in other forms. Janjic assessed that judicial proceedings conducted against journalists last year are “quick and efficient” and concluded that attacks on media by the government and “drawing targets” on individual journalists has significantly increased.

Ambassador Oricio said that journalism is faced with a dilemma about its future: whether it will join the democratic process, interpret the facts putting them in context, checking the statements of public officials or journalists will be entertainers. He said that free and independent media is one of the guarantees of objective and factual reporting, which is a condition for citizens to form their political position in a democratic society.

The key findings of IJAS report, Indicators on the level of media freedom and journalists’ safety – 2017 were presented by researcher Marija Vukasović who said that the freedom of media in 2017 was at a low level and is more limited in comparison to 2016. She highlighted that narrowing of media freedoms has been a noted trend over a longer period of time.

The report shows that one of the major issues in media sphere is the (absence of) work of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) – it does not use all legally prescribed possibilities to sanction actions that violate the law, does not publish all documents it is legally obliged to, does not perform monitoring. Also, co-financing of projects in the field of public information for the purpose of achieving public interest is, same as in previous years, faced with numerous problems in practice.

Vukasovic stated that one of the biggest problems is the fact that for a long time now and in a large number of cases, journalists and media workers work in difficult conditions, with very low salaries which are paid irregularly, frequently without signing the labour contract; this especially relates to journalists and media workers who work in local media.

According to the regional database, in the period from 01 September 2016 to 31 August 2017, number of incidents recorded in Serbia amounted to 40, including 8 physical attacks, 28 verbal attacks, one attack against property, two cases of surveillance of journalists, and one of discrimination of media and journalists. The trend from the previous year has continued – the number of physical attacks against journalists and other media workers is decreasing, while the number of verbal attacks via the Internet and social networks has risen.

You can read the whole report here.

Annual Report comprises the findings of research conducted within the regional project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety, implemented by national organisations of journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Fact finding mission by EFJ, IPI and SEEMO

The event hosted a press conference by the mission of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Press Institute (IPI) and South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) that spend two days in Serbia meeting journalists who were intimidated, representatives of national and local media and representatives of the state and state bodies.

“It was encouraging to follow the big interest in Serbia on our fact finding mission. Without any doubt our mission shows that there are a huge need of creating an environment where all journalist by decent working conditions can do their job freely without threats or fear”, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, president of EFJ said. The mission attracted significant media and official interest, revealed a number of substantial challenges for the promotion of a free, independent and pluralist media environment in Serbia.

During the presentation of their findings, three renowned international organisations stated the following areas as the most worrying and prepared an initial set of recommendations:

Safety of journalists
State engagement with media
Media strategy
Social dialogue
Access to information
Ombudsman
Definition of a journalist
Working group on safety
Press council

To read recommendations for each of the above fields, please see Joint mission to Serbia: our recommendations

Serbian Pro-Govt TV Station Accused of Targeting Journalist

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IJAS

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30/01/2018

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BELGRADE, 30.01.2018. – Serbian media organisations called on the public to submit complaints about pro-government TV Pink after it aired a series of reports calling journalist Tamara Skrozza an ‘enemy’ of the government.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, IJAS, and the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability, CRTA, asked viewers in Serbia on Monday to report TV Pink to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media over its reports depicting Skrozza as an enemy of the government.

Pink aired several reports about Skrozza after CRTA, a watchdog NGO of which she is an active member, published research showing that ruling party figures have appeared in the media four times more often than politicians from the opposition.

According to Skrozza and the IJAS, TV Pink took statements Skrozza made during various public appearances out of context in order to depict her as being politically biased.

“IJAS and CRTA are launching an action in support of journalists and colleagues from CRTA, regarding the shameful daily campaign by TV Pink, which targets Skrozza… as an enemy of [Serbian President] Aleksandar Vucic and aims to discredit CRTA,” the two organisations said in a press release.

The IJAS and CRTA say they want to make the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media address the “manipulations” that TV Pink used to depict Skrozza as being hostile towards Vucic.

So far more than 90 complaints have been filed.

Skrozza said that TV Pink’s campaign against her has created “tension” in her daily life.

“My mother is very scared for me and the safety of my child,” she told IJAS, but added that she was determined to continue her work.

U petak suđenje za napad na novinarke Pinka

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IJAS

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30/01/2018

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BEOGRAD, 30.01.2018. – Glavni pretres u postupku protiv Dejana Vulićevića koji je optužen za napad na novinarke Pinka zakazan je pred Višim sudom u Beogradu za petak u 10 sati.

Novinarke televizije Pink Gordana Uzelac i Mara Dragović napadnute su neposredno posle protesta pokreta Dveri i Zdrave Srbije 16. septembra ispred Pinka.

Televizija Pink tada je tvrdila da je Uzelac zadobila potres mozga, a da je Dragović polomljeno rebro, zbog čega su tri dana provele na Urgentnom centru, dok je list Danas objavio medicinski izveštaj sudskog veštaka Branimira Aleksandrića u kojem se navodi da one nisu imale teške povrede.

„Gordana Uzelac zadobila je samo površne nagnječine mekih tkiva u desnom slepoočnom predelu, što predstavlja laku telesnu povredu. Dragović je zadobila samo površne nagnječine mekih tkiva u potiljačnom predelu“, navodi se u Aleksandrićevom nalazu koje je zatražilo Više javno tužilaštvo.

Osumnjičeni za napad na novinarke TV Pink Dejan Vulićević (46) uhapšen je odmah nakon mitinga, a sudija za prethodni postupak Višeg suda u Beogradu tada mu je odredio privor do 30 dana. On je pušten da se brani sa slobode.

Vulićević se tereti da je izvršio krivično delo nasilničko ponašanje na javnom skupu.

Pokret Dveri saopštio je da se za vreme protesta tog pokreta i Zdrave Srbije ispred zgrade TV Pink u Beogradu nije dogodio nikakav incident sa novinarkama TV Pink i osudili su svaki vid nasilja.

AJK opposses MIA’s initiative about fake news

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AJK

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29/01/2018

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PRISTINA, 29.01.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo analysed thoroughly the concept document of internal ministry related to prevention and fight against cyber crimes.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) considers that this form of media coverage within the Cybercrime Law is wrong because cybercrime and fake news have nothing in common. Any attempt to criminalize defamation is considered an attempt to limit freedom of information.

Moreover, this initiative was made without notice or public consultation, although the online discussion platform was opened on December 22, 2017 through January 18, 2018 in the framework of the cyber crime law – and as a result many media stakeholders were not aware of this proposal.

AJK understands that this phenomenon is a concern but it wants to inform the sponsors and the relevant institutions that media freedom, although very fragile, cannot be regulated without a full discussion and inclusion of all relevant parties.

Any involvement of fake news, libel or any journalistic phenomenon in this law is likely to cause us some backward steps.

AJK urges that this initiative be stopped and reopen the discussion and expanded with all relevant stakeholders, including AJK and civil society.

AJK condemns hate language at TV Most

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AJK

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29/01/2018

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PRISTINA, 29.01.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo sends fiery criticism to the TV Most with its headquarters in Zvecan because of the use of hate speech in the article “Šiptarski teroristi prete Marku Đuriću”.

“TV Most” has published a short news article in the evening of January 28^th, 2018 related to the graffiti made in a wall of the primary school in the village of Ugljare, located near Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje, where classes are attended by majority of children of the Serbian community.

Subsequently, on the portal of this television, the term “Siptari” was used, which is offensive to Albanians, in the title of the story “Šiptarski teroristi prete Marku Đuriću” (Albanian terrorists threaten Marko Đurić).

Also, this medium has violated the code of ethics by also using the term “terrorists”, which was defined like this by the medium itself.

TV Most has used the source of information from another medium for this event, Radio KiM in this case, but it is obvious that the offending title is of the editorial of this television.

AGK considers that TV Most using this offensive term for Albanians has broken not only ethical standards but also international norms that prohibit hate speech and discrimination.

AGK reminds media in Kosovo that hate speech is a criminal offense sanctioned by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.

The two arrested journalists from Novermber 2nd were noted in OSCE election report

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AJM

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29/01/2018

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SKOPJE, 01.29.2018 – Following an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, OSCE/ODIHR prepared a report on the local elections in Macedonia, which took place during the month of October. The report also noted the detention of two journalists for which the Association of Journalists of Macedonia had a fierce reaction.

In the report, beside the work of the media, all elements of the elections process were analyzed such as: electoral system and legal framework, election administration, voter registration, candidate registration, campaign environment etc.

Also, OSCE in the end of the report gives recommendations for the work of the public broadcaster, where it says that MRT should strengthen its’ role as public broadcaster by improving the quality of the programmes. According to the report: – “The MRT should promote pluralism, provide a broader range of political viewpoints, professionalize journalism, disseminate voter education programmes and increase women’s political participation by providing them with greater news coverage”.

You can find the report on the following link.

AJM condemns the attack on journalist in Struga

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AJM

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27/01/2018

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SKOPJE, 27.01.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia strongly condemns the attack of the journalist Armand Braho, who works in the online media strugalajm.org. The attack happened earlier this week in Hotel “Drim” in Struga. According to the journalist’s statement, perpetrators from the political party Alliance for Albanians (AA) attacked him during the conference, to which he was duly invited.

AJM President Naser Selmani, urged the authorities to quickly investigate the case and punish the perpetrators. “If the new Government wants to send a clear message that it will not tolerate attacks on journalists, then it must investigate the case as soon as possible and bring the perpetrators to justice”, Selmani said.

This violent attack confirms the assessment from the AJM Report, according to which the attacks against journalists are mostly prompted by political parties.

According to our colleague Braho, the President of the political party AA, Zijadin Sela, before he left the conference in Struga, he said to the journalist: -“Go away from here and don’t come back, go to those who sent you and interview them”. After this, supporters of the AA started to harass the journalist, preventing him from transmitting the conference, and after the event he was physically attacked.

Braho reported the attackers to the police. So far, one person has been summoned for questioning, after which the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that they will raise appropriate charges for the criminal offence against the person, while they also work on identification of the other perpetrators.

Safejournalists.net