Newsroom
OSCE presents media survey on the status of journalists' rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
3 May 2000
SARAJEVO, 3 May 2000 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today presents a spot survey carried out among representatives of 50 media outlets who attended OSCE's Country-Wide Journalists Conference held on March 13, 2000.
The preliminary results of the survey depict a rather gloomy picture of BiH's media environment. 92 percent of the surveyed journalists consider the status of journalists' rights unsatisfactory. Asked about current trends, 50 percent of the media representatives felt that journalists' rights are increasingly encroached upon; 38 percent stated that the number of violations would stagnate.
While 74 percent of the journalists asked to participate in the survey feel that their freedom of expression and movement is being impeded, 62 percent have personally experienced intimidation and interference with their work, including direct and indirect pressure applied by both political parties and elected or appointed government officials.
The spot survey also indicates that journalists in BiH do not report many of the incidents. If they decide to do so, they prefer to report cases to international organizations or journalists associations rather than to the police.
When asked how to improve the journalists' rights situation in BiH, 40 percent of the journalists emphasized that public awareness needs to be increased. On the other hand, 49 percent think that court proceedings and police actions need to be monitored more closely. A telling statistic: Only one-third surveyed thinks that their rights are guaranteed by the domestic judicial system.
An overwhelming majority of the journalists present at the Conferenceregarded OSCE's FreeMedia Help-Line as useful and expects to receive advice on how to deal with pressure from state authorities or party officials. In a move to help promote journalists' rights throughout the country, two media outlets have already linked their homepages to OSCE's Incident Report Form on its website at www.oscebih.org. The OSCE Mission intends to link the FreeMedia Help-Line to all BiH media house websites in the country. Also available on the OSCE Mission Website are the detailed results of the spot survey. An in-depth survey on journalists' rights will be published later in the year.
The preliminary results of the survey depict a rather gloomy picture of BiH's media environment. 92 percent of the surveyed journalists consider the status of journalists' rights unsatisfactory. Asked about current trends, 50 percent of the media representatives felt that journalists' rights are increasingly encroached upon; 38 percent stated that the number of violations would stagnate.
While 74 percent of the journalists asked to participate in the survey feel that their freedom of expression and movement is being impeded, 62 percent have personally experienced intimidation and interference with their work, including direct and indirect pressure applied by both political parties and elected or appointed government officials.
The spot survey also indicates that journalists in BiH do not report many of the incidents. If they decide to do so, they prefer to report cases to international organizations or journalists associations rather than to the police.
When asked how to improve the journalists' rights situation in BiH, 40 percent of the journalists emphasized that public awareness needs to be increased. On the other hand, 49 percent think that court proceedings and police actions need to be monitored more closely. A telling statistic: Only one-third surveyed thinks that their rights are guaranteed by the domestic judicial system.
An overwhelming majority of the journalists present at the Conferenceregarded OSCE's FreeMedia Help-Line as useful and expects to receive advice on how to deal with pressure from state authorities or party officials. In a move to help promote journalists' rights throughout the country, two media outlets have already linked their homepages to OSCE's Incident Report Form on its website at www.oscebih.org. The OSCE Mission intends to link the FreeMedia Help-Line to all BiH media house websites in the country. Also available on the OSCE Mission Website are the detailed results of the spot survey. An in-depth survey on journalists' rights will be published later in the year.