Podgorica, (MINA) – Self-regulation cannot resolve all the challenges media and journalists are facing, but it is an important mechanism for establishing balance between freedom of speech and accountability for quality and credibility, said executive director of the Media Institute (IMCG) Olivera Nikolic.
According to her, existence of a single functional self-regulatory body proved to be a good mechanism for of strengthening and maintaining credibility of media in the countries in which they exist.
“Self-regulation is the way for independent media to accept their part of responsibility for respecting ethical standards and quality of public word”, Nikolic told Mina.
However, she added, violations of professional standards often happen in times of social crisis, open important social issues, and media often become a device used for instigating tensions.
“In those situation, I believe that Montenegro lacks dialogue on professional standards and timely, credible professional reaction to possible violations of standards through an unique, credible body which would have the highest possible representativeness and thus high credibility”, said Nikolic.
She argues that the reasons for the lack of a single, functional self-regulatory boy in Montenegro are numerous, and deserve a debate between the editors and media owners.
According to Nikolic, it is not possible that such body could exist until the leading media outlets do not participate in its work.
“The way things are, there are no signs if and when a single self-regulatory body could be formed in Montenegro. Self-regulation is based on the principle of voluntarism and such organization is an expression of recognizing its purpose and social significance”, said Nilkolic.
She remarked that certain challenges in regard to violation of the Code were recorded during the mini survey IMCG carried out with the Peace Institute from Ljubljana, adding that the challenges in particular exist in violation of privacy as well as respecting the right to presumption of innocence.
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.Longer version of article is available on a link MINA ENGLISH SERVIS
