SARAJEVO, 29.05.2018. – As highlighted at the workshop on mechanisms for protection of media professionals that was held today in Banja Luka, more effective protection of rights and freedoms of journalists is possible through application of ethical and professional standards in their work, as well as strengthening solidarity, dialogue and self-criticism within the professional community.
„There is no right without a certain responsibility. If we exercise the right to freedom of expression then we must be prepared to respect all the articles and provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)“, said the General Secretary of BH Journalists Associatio Borka Rudić. She also emphasized that the Convention predicts certain limitations.
„These are formal limitations that must have a legitimate interest and legal justification, and at the same time decisions by institutions on restricting freedom of expression must be made in a transparent manner, “said Rudić.
Executive director of Press Council in BiH Ljiljana Zurovac emphasized that the journalistic duty is to respect the needs of citizens for useful, timely and relevant information, as well as defending the principle of freedom of information.“Journalists often forget that by violating professional principles they are responsible for the actions of people who follow inaccurate and unreliable information”, said Zurovac.
Journalists from the Banja Luka redactions pointed out as the main obstacles in their work, among other things, access to information, media and marketing censorship, the emergence of self-censorship and the lack of understanding of the satire genre.
The Workshop presented the current guidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the police in dealing with the media and guidelines for the media in dealing with the police.
The workshop on mechanisms for the protection of journalists and other media professionals was organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH, in cooperation with the BH Journalists Association and the Press Council in BiH. The workshop gathered 20 journalists and journalists from Banja Luka.