Montenegro’s media adopts revised code of ethics

A revised ethical code for the media has been agreed upon in Montenegro, in an attempt to raise standards among the country’s media outlets.

With the support of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the code has been developed over the course of a year by a group consisting of representatives of the independent media outlets Dan, Vijesti and Monitor, in addition to the national Media Self-Regulation Body.

The revised code includes changes in regulations regarding commenting online, privacy issues, reporting on children, conflicts of interest, transparency, plagiarism and reporting from political rallies.

Head of the newspaper Dan, Nikola Marković, told the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) that the amendments aim to define professional standards and how to respect them.

“We have not been able to agree on interpretation of those standards, however. What the independent media sees as the benefit of investigative journalism, the pro-government media see as an attack on the state and on constitutional order,” Markovic warned.

Concerns have also been raised over the lack of clear penalties for non-compliance.

The amendments prohibit slander, in addition to gratuitous personal attacks. New rules regarding originality of content, referring to using content, ideas or photographs without crediting the source, are also included.

“Media self-regulation is an important tool to safeguard editorial independence, promote professional standards of journalism and ensure increased credibility as well as solidarity among the media community,” Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, added, congratulating the working group on the revised code.

Source: Balkan Insight