5 key suggestions to turn the tide of the decline of journalism in the Western Balkans
In line with the Statement and Recommendations developed by the EJN, RSF calls on all relevant stakeholders in the Western Balkans region, including governments, to step up their efforts to support a pluralistic, independent and sustainable media environment. Most notably, the EU accession talks should be seen as an opportunity to highlight the following priorities:
Media outlets in the region must be encouraged to maintain transparency, ethical standards and credible self-regulation through self-assessment processes and independent certification through widely recognised programmes, such as the Journalism Trust Initiative.
Support for both public and private news media from international bodies, donors, and national authorities should be conditional on assessment and certification systems vetting the quality, transparency and standards of their journalism. Advertisers and commercial sponsors of news media and fact-checking agencies should be encouraged to support their self-assessment and incentivised to work with outlets that adopt this form of transparency and self-regulation.
Tech companies behind social media and other digital platforms should be obliged to give due prominence to news media that self-regulate in the manner described, giving them preferential treatment in the algorithms powering their search engines;
Digital platforms and technology companies should engage in good faith with media outlets that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of widely recognised self-regulatory programmes, such as the Journalism Trust Initiative, to avoid abusive suspensions or unjustified restrictions on their content.
Several news organisations in the Western Balkansare leading the way in ethical journalism and sound editorial management through their brand new JTI certifications, such as Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) and Valterportal.ba in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faktograf.hr in Croatia, and Istinomer in Serbia. Over 65 news organisations from the Balkans are assessing themselves with the Journalism Trust Initiative, an international quality standard for news outlets whose detailed requirements include editorial and reporting processes in line with ethical norms, good governance, self-regulation and active engagement with the public.
Link to the EJN Statement
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Publish date : 2024-12-16 10:56:00
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