03. 09. 2004

Journalists urge legal media regulation

NOVI SAD, September 3, 2004 (FoNet) – The Association of Vojvodina Journalists has urged state bodies to finally adopt legislation that would regulate the media sphere. In connection with the Novi Sad Municipal Court decision under which journalist Milan Laketic and the daily Politika are to pay 120,000 dinars in compensation for the damage caused to the reputation and honour of the president of the Novi Sad City Government, Branislav Pomoriski, the association said on Friday that politicians were using media to create scandals, and for the political purpose of fighting for power at any cost. Politicians bear no responsibility whatsoever for the statements they issue so, once again in this case, the only victim is a journalist and daily Politika, while the politicians who issued statements based on “human, ethical and political estimates” appeared in court only as witnesses and have borne no responsibility for their statements which have been published by Politika articles, said the association. In addition to calling for legal regulation of the media sector, the Association of Vojvodina Journalists has called on journalists to observe ethical standards and not to succumb to political pressure; all that journalists should be concerned with, says the body, is that the basic rule of their profession is to publish true, objective and supported information.