31. 08. 2005

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND JOURNALISM IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE

Influenced and often pressured by politicians and media owners, hindered by poor material status and in fear of losing their jobs, journalists in Southeast 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. Research teams of media centers from the region (Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Sofia, Tirana, Skopje) coordinated by 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. Text can be dowloaded on the following address: www.anem.org.yu/download/istrazivanje.pdf Ultimate aim of the project and the media centers that are the members of the SEENPM Network (The Southeast Network for the Professionalization of the Media), which made this research possible, is preparation of a future strategy for improvement of professional standards in the regional media.