20. 10. 2004

Journalism – trade or vocation?

BELGRADE, October 20, 2004 (FoNet) – A panel discussion on the theme “Journalism – Trade or Vocation?” was held at the Belgrade Media Centre on Wednesday, October 19. Panel members agreed that a conscientious attitude to codes of ethics, and moral and professional standards is lacking in Serbia and that other rules and standards are violated merely to achieve higher circulation and a broader readership. The first of five panel discussions planned on the same theme also served to launch the book “Ethics in Media” by Louis Alvin Day. In his preface to this university textbook, the author defines himself as belonging to the US “journalist minority” which fights against commercialisation of the media and against dealing with information as goods in trade. The long-time editor of weekly news magazine NIN, Stevan Niksic, noted that the term “ethnical journalism” does not exist. “Journalism is either ethical or it’s not journalism at all. News which is not written according to the generally accepted standards is not the product of a journalist, it is political or some other kind of propaganda, pamphleteering or simply an insult,” said Niksic. Miroljub Radojkovic of the Belgrade University Faculty of Political Sciences warned that the experience of ethical journalism drawn on in the book can’t be entirely applied in Serbia. “There are no legal regulations in the United States which set the limits for freedom of the press. The whole concept is based on the celebrated First Amendment. However there is exceptionally good self-regulation in which certain media create their own codes of ethics. Every reader has access to those codes and may take legal action against a paper if he believes the codes have been violated,” said Radojkovic. Speakers at the panel discussion included the editors-in-chief of dailies Politika and Blic, together with other representatives of the print media. The editors of the Radio Television Serbia, TV Pink, TV BK and TV Politika did not attend, despite having been invited.