Over-regulation in the media creates self-censorship

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28/11/2017

SKOPJE, 28.11.2017 – Today in Sofia, Bulgaria a conference is held dedicated to the challenges of the media in Southeast Europe, organized by the South East Europe Media Forum. The conference is attended by about 300 media representatives, media experts, representatives of the academic community and local and international media organizations.

The director of AJM, Dragan Sekulovski, participated at the panel discussion dedicated to fake news, and he stressed that the region needs media, which will be an example in the fight against fake news. “The public broadcasting service, or in our case, MRT, has an important role in this context, and it should serve as an example of how other media should report,” Sekulovski said.

He believes that one of the mechanisms of a long-running battle against fake news is raising the awareness and educating citizens in order to identify the fake news. “It is true that most often the fake news are being spread through online media, but it is wrong to think that such media content can be regulated by law. Excessive regulation can cause self-censorship and negatively affect the freedom of speech,” Sekulovski said.

According to him, fake news in Macedonia in the past period were created by quasi experts, fake organizations, fake polls, fake protests aiming to create a distorted picture of the reality in society and to defocus from the real problems.

Veštak: Novinarke Pinka nisu imale teške telesne povrede

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IJAS

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28/11/2017

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BEOGRAD, 28.11.2017. – Novinarke Televizije Pink, Gordana Uzelac i Mara Dragović, koje su napadnute tokom protesta Dveri 16. septembra, nisu zadobile teške telesne povrede, kako uporno ponavljaju funkcioneri vlasti i režimski mediji, piše beogradski dnevnik Danas.

Uzelac nije imala potres mozga niti je Dragovićevoj polomljeno rebro, navodi se u medicinskom izveštaju sudskog veštaka Branimira Aleksandrića, koji je zatražilo Više javno tužilaštvo, a u koji je Danas imao uvid.

U Aleksandrićevom nalazu nigde se ne navode povrede o kojima su prorežimski mediji pisali a svedočili pojedini vuisoki funkcioneri države.

Danas podseća da su novinarke tri dana ležale u Urgentnom centru a posetio ih je i predsednik Srbije Aleksandar Vućić iako se u misljenu sudskog veštaka jasno navodi da su u pitanju lake telesne povrede.

U tekstu se podseća na to da je Dejan Vulićević iz Lučana, osumnjičen za napad na novinarke uhapšen, da je protiv njega podignut optužni predlog a početak suđenja najavljen za naredni februar.

Optužen je za nasilničko ponašanje na javnom skupu. Vulićević je na saslušanju negirao da je udario novinarke Pinka. No, one su, prema spisima Višeg javnog tužilaštva na koje se poziva Danas, opisale kako su napadnute i udarene.

Međutim, nakon uvida u medicinsku dokumentaciju sudski veštak je procenio da su obe novinarke zadobile površna nagnječenja mekih tikiva što je lakša telesna povreda, piše Danas.

Ovaj dnevnik, navodi da su brojne javne ličnosti i celokupna javnost osudili napad na novinarke. No, „Pink, Informer i Srpski telegraf kao i pojedini ministri, iskoristili su incident u političke svrhe šireči definformacije o težini povreda. To su radili čak i predsednik Aleksandar Vučić i direktor Urgentnog centra Dušan Jovanović“, piše Danas.

Dnevnik navodi i različite reakcije vlasti na slučaj napada na novinarke Pinka i novinare koji su izveštavali o polaganju zakleteve predsednika Srbije.

U prvom sličaju policija je ekspresno uhvatila osumnjičenog za napad. U drugom slučaju je bilo potrebno pola godine da identifikuje vinovnike incidenta.

U prvom slučaju postupak je pokrenut a u drugom odbačen jer je Tužilaštvo zaključilo da su napadači samo“ sprečavali sukobe“. Danas donosi i izjavu predsednika NUNS Slaviše Lekića da je reč o diskriminaciji, selektivnovisti i nepravdi.

Blogging community fighting against gender-based violence

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BHJA

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28/11/2017

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SARAJEVO, 27.11.2017. – “Blogging community fighting against gender-based violence” was the name of a one-day workshop that was held today in the Sarajevo Museum of Literature.The gathered bloggers from Tuzla, Doboj, Sapna, Gradacac, Zenica, Banjaluka, Bihać, Bijeljina and Sarajevo.

The workshop was organized with the goal to improve the knowledge of bloggers in order to report using professional standards of gender-based violence and to publish stories, which will be the basis for promoting the rights and interests of victims through contextualizing the punishment of gender-based violence in BiH.

Zlatan Hrnčić from the Gender Center of FBiH spoke about the problem of gender-based violence from the institutional perspective and on the Strategy for Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence 2013-2017.

“The Gender Center of the FBiH annually registers 300-400 verdicts in cases of gender-based violence. In addition, about 300 people a year are housed in safe houses, and the SOS phone registers about 5,000 calls, “Hrnčić said.

Hatidza Gušić from Media Center Sarajevo spoke of the importance of actively engaging bloggers in preventing and raising public awareness of violence against women.

“The blog is a quick and easy channel of communication but also a very powerful advocacy tool. You as bloggers and bloggers can name those who do not work or praise those who are actively working to prevent violence against women, ” as Gušić told the bloggers.

A guest lecturer at the training in Sarajevo was also a blogger from Banja Luka, Srđan Puhalo, who shared experiences in writing about gender-based violence, especially violence against women with the participants.

“You must be aware that you are writing about living people who are in special circumstances and vulnerable states, and that your writing may have certain consequences. Blog can bring somebody to trouble but also can help someone. You have to be responsible for everything you write to make the consequences less drastic. This is the responsibility of the blogger regardless of the number of shares and flourishes, “Puhalo said.

Šejla Šehabović, a writer and director of the Museum of Literature, spoke to the participants about the style, techniques and ethics of writing a blog.

Workshop for bloggers was held as a part of the project “Disconnect Violence – Media against Violence against Women”, implemented by the BiH Association of Associations / Associations supported by the UN Women Office in BiH and the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

“E-society”: Less regulation for the online media

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AJM

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27/11/2017

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SKOPJE, 27.11.2017 – Representative of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, Ivan Breshkovski, took part at the conference called “E-society”, where they discussed the ways of regulation in the media, the public service, trust in the journalists, freedom of expression in the society , as well as potential reforms in the media sphere.

Breshkovski in his speech referred to the laws relating to the media and their activities. “As a basic law that regulates the work of private broadcasters, but also the public service is the Law for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (LAAMS) which is currently being discussed on a public debate, in order to ensure the financial and institutional independence of the Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) and the media regulator,” said Breskovski.

“It is crucial that there is no over-regulation in the media sector because it can negatively affect and disrupt the fragile situation of the freedom of expression”

Breshkovski stressed that it is very important to mention the court practice in the cases against media, and especially against journalists. In the past, this was an instrument for pressuring journalists. “In 2012 there were over 300 cases against journalists. Therefore, AJM initiated a new civil law for these acts, which will protect the rights of journalists and will give an opportunity through a denial and correction in order to avoid long and expensive court proceedings. Today, these defamation and insult procedures for journalists are rarer. Information from June 2017, says there are only 39 cases. That is a positive trend, so that journalists are not intimidated,” he said.

Then Breshkovski referred to the analyses of AJM, the experts of the European Council and OSCE according to which, during the implementation of the law for defamation and insult, it’s important the that the courts refer to the ECHR practice while making the decisions, or to cite concrete cases where they explain their decisions.

He also said that in terms of procedures for defamation and insult, the long deadlines remain, and they are not respected by the Court. “The Court must protect the rights of the victims in accordance with the ECHR practice, especially when it comes to online media,” he said, adding that the Court in Skopje has a bad practice to exclude persons (legal or physical) from liability for insulting or defamation expressed through an online media. “By doing so, the Court shows that it does not count the online media as a service for public information and therefore does not consider them as liable. This practice of the Court needs to be changed”, he stressed.

According to Breshkovski, an important process for preventing lawsuits against journalists is the promotion of self-regulatory mechanisms in the media in order to resolve an eventual dispute outside the court, which helps in avoiding the expensive court costs, lengthy proceedings and achieving an effect that raises public awareness for the importance of professional standards of the journalistic profession.

Istraga o prebijanju novinara agencije Beta u toku

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IJAS

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27/11/2017

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BEOGRAD, 27.11.2017. -Iz kabineta ministra unutrašnjih poslova Nebojše Stefanovića FoNetu je danas rečeno da je istraga o prebijanju novinara agencije Beta Miloša Đorelijevskog na protestu Srpske radikalne stranke 29. jula 2008. godine “u toku” i da je sprovodi radna grupa koja se bavila tim događanjima.

Đorelijevskog je policija prebila kod podžemnog prolaza na Terazijama, iako se legitimisao kao novinar, a sve to su posmatrala dvojica kolega.

On je, posle prijavljivanja slučaja policiji, dao kratku izjavu, i posle toga nikad nije kontaktiran, čak ni kad mu je pre tri godine Stefanović obećao da će se lično založiti da se taj slučaj rasvetli.

Radna grupa koja je istraživala postupanje policije tokom suzbijanja nereda koje su radikali izazvali posle protesta zbog hapšenja haškog optuženika Radovana Karadžića uspela je da razreši slučaj prebijanja učesnika mitinga Ranka Panića, koji je nekoliko dana kasnije umro u bolnici.

Pripadnik niškog odreda Žandarmerije optužen je da je Paniću čizmom naneo povrede od kojih je kasnije umro i njemu je suđenje u toku.

Stefanović je danas izjavio da nema informaciju dokle je stigla istraga o prebijanju Đorelijevskog i obećao da će tokom dana dati informaciju, što je iz njegovog kabineta i učinjeno, objašnjenjem da je istraga i dalje u toku i da slučaj nije zatvoren.

Police and Prosecutor’s Office without results the in case of stoning of TV Pink M building

By

TUMM

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26/11/2017

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PODGORICA, 26.11.2017 – Stoning of TV Pink M building is among the unresolved cases on attacks on media and journalist in Montenegro and the conducted investigation of this case was dealt with by the Commission for Monitoring the Actions of the Competent Authorities in the Investigation of Cases of Threats and Violence Against Journalists, Assassinations of Journalists and Attacks on Media Property.

In its second quarterly report, numerous omissions were noted and, among other things, it was concluded that the police dealt with TV Pink M case only one day.

TV Pink M building was stoned the first time on October 18, 2015, following a protest in the organization of the Democratic Front, and the second on September 7, 2016, when NN person stopped in front of the building and began to stone it. On both occasions glasses on the building were broken and during the first incident a journalist/editor Ivana Drobnjak was hit by a stone (which broke the glass) in the neck. She had minor body injures.

“State Prosecutor Jelena Protić was informed about everything. Subsequent actions were taken by the deputy prosecutors Danka Ivanovic Đerić and Zoran Vučinić. From the submitted documentation it is not clear what the Basic State Prosecution did regarding this case, except that on several occasions it requested from the Police Directorate to provide them documentation and that it conducted a hearing of two employees of TV Pink M. The last action taken by the Basic State Prosecution (repeated urgency to the Police Directorate to deliver them complete documentation on the case) was done on December 16, 2015. After that, Police Directorate delivered files on January 22, 2016”, states the Commission’s report.

Several employees of Pink M, as well as a citizen of M.J. for whom it was suspected that broke the glasses, but neither the police nor the Prosecution did anything about it.

“At the hearing M.J. said that he was returning from the protest through Sloboda Street and that he noticed near the drinking fountain that a group of men was running after a person with a mask on a face. He approached them when one of them caught the masked person. He separated them and continued. He claims that he did not see anybody stoning any building and that he did not take part in that. On the day of the incident, the TV Pink cameraman Danilo Novaković gave a statement too. He said that he was returning from the protest, where he was working, when near the drinking fountain in Sloboda Street he noticed a group of people who was shouting “he broke it, broke it, caught him”. He pointed out his camera to a person for whom he assumed that these shouts relate to. Cameraman said that it seemed to him that a man, whom he had known from seeing, said “so what if I am”. Later on, in TV station during the examination of video his colleague recognized a man for whom a group of citizens ran after. It was M.J”, says the report.

On the video that was submitted to the Commission by the Prosecution, among other persons, MP Veljko Vasiljević can be seen, while MP Janko Vučinić is mentioned in the police records. At the video number of citizens, eyewitnesses, can be clearly seen and their identity could have been determined easily, but that was not done.

In the conclusions, it was noted that the Basic State Prosecution ordered the examination of the medical records of the injured Ivana Drobnjak, examined her and cameraman Danilo Novović, but they never examined a person which Novaković described as the potential perpetrator of the criminal act.

“Having in mind that there was a video, immediately available to the police, and also to the Basic State Prosecutors Office, which shows eyewitnesses running after a possible attacker (most likely M.J.), remains unclear why the case had no epilogue. The Prosecution did nothing to continue the process after it had received the documentation from the Police Directorate in January 2016. The Commission did not receive any decision which would indicate that something has been done. None of the eye-witnesses on the video, whose identity can be easily determined, was not invited for a hearing neither by the police nor prosecution. MP Veljko Vasiljević who was on the sport (as recorded by the camera) was not invited for a hearing either. In the case files it is written that MP Janko Vučinić was there, but he was not as well invited for a hearing.”, was concluded in the Report.

AJK condemns state official’s lynching campaign against journalist

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AJK

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24/11/2017

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PRISTINA, 24.11.2017 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo condemns the lynching campaign of a state official against journalist from the Pristina based television station, Kohavision.

Journalist, Ardiana Thaci-Mehmeti showed lynching details of the campaign that is against her since October 2, 2017, run exclusively by the head of Air Navigation Services Agency (ASHNA), Bahri Nuredini.

Thaci-Mehmeti, in one of the series of news, found out that a tender issued from the agency was won by a company of which the owner is a business partner of Nuredini in a different company. Kosovo’s agency against corruption proved that there was a conflict of interest in the tender process. Thaci-Mehmeti reported several times about the mismanagement in the agency.

The Agency’s website contains news which calls on public opinion not to believe what Thaci-Mehmeti reports about the agency because the journalist has personal aims to attack ASHNA.

“Since this agency sent a letter to media on October 2, which called on Kosovo citizens not to fall prey to allegedly of ‘disinformation’ that were published in Kohavision by me – Ardiana Thaci, that in fact the information was well investigated and based on documents for mismanagement by the head of this institution, Bahri Nuredini. In their website, since that day, my name continues to remain. This news is also screened in a television which is at the main hall of the agency,” Thaci-Mehmeti said.

AJK demands from the institution to remove the news from the website. The agency should not repeat such a practice in relation with journalists.

This act represents open tendency to lynch the journalists which has direct aim to damage their image.

Oslobođena i druga dvojica koja su pretila uredniku Južnih vesti

By

IJAS

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24/11/2017

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BEOGRAD, 24.11.2017. – Umesto uslovne zatvorske kazne zbog “ozbiljnih pretnji” koje su uputili uredniku Južnih vesti Predragu Blagojeviću, na zahtev Republičkog javnog tužilaštva, Vrhovni kasacioni sud preinačio je presudu niškog suda i oslobodio pukovnika Dobrivoja Stanimirovića i privatnog detektiva Miju Jankovića.

Prema navodima iz presude, niški Viši sud je pogrešno zaključio da su Stanimirović i Janković uopšte pretili novinaru.

Iako su sudije Višeg suda u Nišu zaključile da je reč o “ozbiljnim pretnjama”, stav Vrhovnog kasacionog suda da poruke koje su Stanimirović i Janković uputili Blagojeviću “nisu kod njega (Blagojevića) mogle da izazovu strah”.

Tačnije, sudije Vrhovnog kasacionog suda smatraju da pretnja ne postoji ako u spornoj poruci nije navedeno “tačno određeno zlo: da će napasti na telo ili život pasivnog subjekta ili njemu bliskog lica”.

Nakon što je Vrhovni kasacioni sud prethodno prošle godine preinačio presudu i oslobodio krivice Milutina Ilića, za koga je takođe utvrdio da nije Blagojeviću uputio preteće poruke, najnovijom presudom su i formalno optužbi oslobođeni svi koji su bili optuženi da su pretili Blagojeviću.

Serbian Journalists Dismayed After Prosecutors Reject Assault Charges

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IJAS

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24/11/2017

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BELGRADE, 24.11.2017. – Serbian media associations have requested an urgent meeting with the state prosecutor, after prosecutors rejected charges brought by journalists attacked at President Aleksandar Vucic’s inauguration.

Three Serbian media associations – members of the working group for the safety of journalists – have requested an urgent meeting with the public prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac after her office rejected charges brought by journalists assaulted at President Aleksandar Vucic’s inauguration.

They say they want Zagorka Dolovac to “annul the consequences” of the First Basic Prosecutor’s decision.

“We will request an explanation of the unacceptable reasoning behind the charges’ dismissal, which practically accuse the journalists of wanting to stage riots among Progressive Party supporters,” the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina and the Association of Independent Electronic Media said.

People at Vucic’s support rally, which occurred outside parliament while Vucic was being inaugurated inside, told the police that a “lynching” might well occur if some people were not removed from the event, the First Basic Prosecutor’s office concluded.

It concluded that men who were caught on photo violently handling journalists and protesters “acted decently, did not threaten anyone, pleaded for the provocations to end, and suchlike.”

The media associations said that they were now considering whether to stay in the working group for the safety of journalists, which also includes the Interior Ministry, the National Public Prosecutor’s office, and several other media associations.

“In the meantime, the journalists’ and media associations will use all legal means in agreement with [the attacked journalists] to protect their rights and basic justice,” the associations said.

They noted also that “key cases” of attacks against journalists in the past had never been solved, citing the murders of Dada Vujasinovic in 1994 and Milan Pantic in 2001, as well as the planting of a bomb under the window of Dejan Anastasijevic in 2007.

“The same goes for cases … which have occurred since the working group was established, such as the filming of Juzne Vesti journalist Predrag Blagojevic, [KRIK journalist] Dragana Peco’s appartment break-in and numerous death threats to others,” the associations said.

The Prosecutor’s office did not answer BIRN’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Safejournalists.net

“It is crucial that there is no over-regulation in the media sector because it can negatively affect and disrupt the fragile situation of the freedom of expression”