Media representatives in Montenegro agree on steps to co-operate in order to strengthen media self-regulation
VIENNA, 14 October 2014 – At a roundtable discussion yesterday organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, representatives for media outlets in Montenegro agreed to review the professional code of ethics as a first step to improve media self-regulation in the country.
“Media self-regulation is an important tool to safeguard editorial freedom, promote quality and help to ensure credibility for media outlets. It is also a vital mechanism to warrant that the influence of the state is reduced to a minimum,” Mijatović said.
At the roundtable discussion the participants concluded that it is necessary to increase confidence within the media community around professional interests, code of ethics and basic standards for journalism. As the first step the participants agreed to review and update the journalists’ code of ethics with support of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.
“Self-regulation involves a set of basic ethical rules agreed upon by the media community,” Mijatović said. “It should also entail an independent mechanism for interpretation and enforcement of these rules.”
The participants agreed that a model of self-regulation has to:
• Respect and promote the basic principles of self-regulation;
• Receive, check and review complaints;
• Make fair decisions, on the basis of rules and regulations;
• Publicly warn the media who violate the code of ethics;
• Ensure transparency of its activities and decisions;
• Propose amendments to the Code of Ethics;
• Defend professional journalistic standards;
• Defend media freedom.
Participating in the meeting were representatives from the daily newspapers Pobjeda, Dan, Vijesti and Dnevne Novine as well as representatives from the Monitor weekly, the portal Analitika, the Secretary General of the Media Council for Self-regulation, and a senior representative of the Council of Europe.
This meeting is a direct follow-up to the Representative’s official visit to Montenegro on 2 July and subsequent meetings with the media and civil society representatives in the country.
“I welcome the support by the government and the civil society in Montenegro in this process to start confidence-building measures between media actors,” Mijatović said.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.