Press freedom in Europe is facing a widespread and growing threat by “soft” censorship that includes governments’ use of financial power to pressure news media, punish critical reporting and rewa
Media: The Ethics and Journalism in South East Europe (2006)
A regional research and advocacy providing comparative analysis of journalistic profession on the basis of survey on professional ethics among journalists in 6 countries in the region.
Influenced and often pressured by politicians and media owners, hindered by poor material status and in fear of losing their jobs, journalists in Southeastern Europe often violate ethical rules and deviate from professional standards. Assessments of the profession in the countries of the region vary from “satisfying” to “worse than ever”. Still, most of the participants believe that things are slowly improving – this is only part of the final results of the regional research “Ethics and Journalism in the South Eastern Europe” conducted with the aim of evaluating the state of journalism, and especially its ethical dimension, at the time of transition, political infighting and struggle for survival in the market.
Research teams of media centers from the region (Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Sofia, Tirana, Skopje), including Media Center Belgrade, have simultaneously conducted comprehensive interviews with journalists from political and economical editorial offices where ethical dilemmas in everyday work are most evident.
Analyzing answers given by 180 journalists from the region, researchers have found out that the word 'pressure' was used more than 70 times, with the word 'influence' closely following.
The final publication about the state of ethics in the region contains the reports from six countries mentioned, final conclusions and a series of recommendations for improvement of ethics in the media and professional standards in the region.