Media Watch Serbia1 Print Media Monitoring

METHODOLOGY

The analysis of the daily from the viewpoint of the observance of generally accepted ethical norms is based on a structural quality analysis of the contents of selected newspaper articles.

The monitoring includes eight dailies: , , Vecernje novosti, , Glas javnosti, , Balkan and Internacional. Four weeklies are also the subject of the analysis: , NIN, Evropa and Nedeljni Telegraf.

The basic research question requiring a reply is the following:

What are the most frequent forms of the violation of the generally accepted ethical norms and standards in the Serbian press?

The previously determined and defined categories of professional reporting are used as the unit of the analysis in the analysis of ethical structure of reporting. The texts do not identify all the categories but the dominant ones only, three being the maximum. The results of the analysis do not refer to the space they take or the frequency of their appearances but stress the ethical norms mostly violated and those which represent the most obvious abuse of public writing by the journalists. The study will not only point out typical or representative cases of non-ethical reporting but positive examples as well whereas individual non- standard cases of the violation of the professional ethics will be underlined in particular. Finally, at the end of each monitoring period, a detailed quality study of selected articles will provide a deep analysis of the monitored topics and cases.

1 The Media Watch Cultural Education and Development Project for Increasing Ethical and Legal Standards in Serbian Journalism is financed and supported by UNESCO. Media Center , this project’s implementing agent, would like to express its sincere gratitude to the aforementioned donor for all the support and assistance it is providing in the realization of this highly relevant endeavour.

The categories making the basis of code research timetable have been defined on the grounds of valid domestic and international codes of ethics, previous researches, theoretical studies and research questions, directly defining the aspect of texts to be monitored.

The purpose of the introduction of structural methodology is to determine precise definitions, examples and rules of the analysis in order to know exactly when a part of the text or the text will be coded as a certain category. The selected and categorized texts and parts of the texts will then be the subject of further quality analysis.

The categorization, definitions, as well as the development of detailed instructions, examples and rules of the analysis for the researchers, has been checked by means of a pilot research.

PRESS ANALYSIS CODES

MEDIA:

DAILY PRESS:

1. Politika 2. Danas 3. Vecernje novosti 4. Blic 5. Glas javnosti 6. Balkan 7. Kurir 8. Internacional

WEEKLY PRESS:

9. Vreme 10. NIN 11. Nedeljni telegraf 12. Evropa

DATE OF TEXT PUBLISHING: ______

PAGE OF TEXT PUBLISHING: ______

SIZE:

1. very short 2. medium 3. long

GENRE:

1. news 2. report 3. news analysis 4. interview 5. article 6. comments 7. reportage 8. document 9. reply 10. denials 11. reader’s letter 12. expert author’s feature

AUTHOR:

1. not mentioned 2. journalist’s name 3. agencies 4. communicated from another media 5. outside author

CAUSE:

1. initiated from outside 2. initiated by media

TOPIC: ______

CATEGORIES:

1. It is the obligation to distinguish news and comments clearly, 2. Interpretation and evaluation of facts, events and phenomena require impartial and rightful comments, 3. If writing about disputable issues, a journalist is obliged to hear both sides and express their opinions and if one of the parties refuses to express its opinion, he must mention it in the news or article 4. Two sources at minimum should confirm any information before it is published, 5. The sources must be mentioned if opinions and attitudes are disputable, 6. A journalist must protect the source of information obtained in confidence undertaking the responsibility for their publishing and truthfulness, 7. Journalists are obliged to protect the source of information. They must keep the promises given to their source of information. If the source had given an unofficial piece of information, it must not be used in such a way that it will reveal the identity of the source, 8. Journalism is not compatible with sensations, publishing of groundless accusations, libels, rumors and gossiping as well as with made up letters or letters by unknown authors or whose identities cannot be checked, 9. Assuming that citizens are equal by law and that the personal rights of citizens must be protected, a journalist must respect the dignity and integrity of the person he is writing about, 10. Journalists must oppose those who do not acknowledge human rights or who support discrimination of any kind towards some ethnic or social groups, 11. Journalism is opposed to any discrimination in respect of ethnic affiliation, language, religion, race, sex, marrital status, political opinion, profession, age, appearance, ideological view and social background, 12. Race, religion, national and ethnic affiliations, sexual committment and family status of a human being will be mentioned by the journalist only if it is necessary for the information. 13. A journalist must not abuse human feelings or their ignorance or inability to reason and he is obliged to respect privacy in reporting about accidents, distress and pain as well as about children, underaged, illnesses, family misfortunes and the accused and if publishing their names and photographs, mentioning innocent relatives and bringing in confessions by criminals, 14. If reporting on investigation and court proceedings, a journalist is obliged to respect the private lives of the people concerned at maximum. Privacy rights are inversely proportionate to the importance of the public function conducted by an individual but it is necessary to respect human dignity in such cases, too, 15. A journalist takes into account the attitude that any accused is innocent before the court judgement is passed, 16. Personal conviction and opinion of a journalist must not affect the choice of a topic and the way it is presented. The public should not recognize personal conviction and opinion of a journalist in his report, 17. Advertising and hidden advertising as well as any form of commercials and commercial propaganda are strange to journalism. Such features in the press must be clearly distinguished from the journalistic contents, 18. A journalist must not use disgraceful methods in order to obtain news, photographs and documents.