The Croatian Parliament, according to the Proposal of the Committee for Elections, Appointments and Administrative Affairs, appointed the Vice President of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Chiara Bilić, as an external member of the Committee for Information, Informatization, and Media.
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“In the Committee, I will be the voice of CJA, in other words, the voice of the journalism profession. Journalism faces increasing challenges. We cannot say that we are in complete darkness, but there are certainly efforts to dim the light. At this moment, it is important to articulate pressing issues such as print distribution, SLAPP lawsuits, media financing, and, as always, censorship and various pressures that our colleagues face daily, both in national and local media,” said Ms. Bilić.
Chiara Bilić was elected Vice President at the Croatian Journalists’ Association electoral assembly held in March 2023, together with Drago Hedl. She is currently also the president of the CJA branch in Istria County.
Ms. Bilić has distinguished herself in CJA’s work by advocating for transparent financing of media with public funds, especially local media, a topic she spoke about in December 2023 before the Parliamentary Media Committee.
According to her biography, in July 2018 she started working at Glas Istre as a freelance contributor. In September of the same year, still freelancing, she began working in the city chronicle, primarily covering the work of the city administration and the City Council of Pula, as well as the political situation in Pula. A year later, she moved to the desk and soon signed a permanent contract as a junior journalist, and later as a senior journalist. At the end of 2021, together with several former Glas Istre journalists, she launched the portal Istra24, where she works as editor and journalist, mainly engaged in investigative articles and political topics.
The decision on the appointment of new members to the Committee for Information, Informatization, and Media will be published in the “Official Gazette” and will come into force on the day of its adoption. According to the Rules of Procedure of the Croatian Parliament, six members are appointed to this Committee: two from the media, two from academia, and two from associations.