Podgorica, (MINA) – National institutions of Montenegro should provide for the initial financial assistance in order to empower logistics for the work of the self-regulatory body, since it would be a signal that they care for media and journalists, said professor Gordana Vilovic.
She said that she is convinced that in Montenegro, at least regarding self-regulation, the situation was better than in Croatia, since in that country a self-regulatory body formed by the profession itself does not exist.
“We have a regulatory body, the Council for Electronic Media, but its members are appointed by the state”, Vilovic told Mina.
Vilovic, who is a professor of journalism at the Faculty of Political Sciences in the University of Zagreb, believes that it would be great if in Croatia and Montenegro national institutions would provide for the initial financial assistance to empowering logistics for the work of the self-regulatory bodies, since that would indicate that they care for media and journalists.
She stated that the Ethical Code of Journalists of Montenegro generally covers all the areas that can be the subject of violation of ethical standard in media, adding that all ethical codes in the world are drafted in similar manner.
According to her, it certainly helps when deciding, but the codes cannot solve everything.
“We need synergy- according to Bertrand- of the journalists, editors, owners and the audiences”, Vilovic explained.
She remarked that minimal consensus is necessary to define social media and how to treat the authors who are not journalists, but have the right to freely express their believes.
“No legal regulative is good for journalism since it reminds of bans and censorship. The legal country that values the law should not be afraid of free press, even when they unintentionally make some minor mistakes”, said Vilovic.
This text is produced with the financial support of the European Union, through the project of Dealing with Ethics and Fake News, reference number IPA2018/397-252. The content is the exclusive responsibility of the Mina news agency and does not necessarily reflect the positions of the EU. The text may be distributed provided that its source is duly credited.
