22. 03. 2013

PRESS COUNCIL: WE REACT UPON COMPLAINTS

Belgrade, March 22, 2013 (Politika) - Only persons directly affected by the publishing of the photograph of a dead boy on the frong page of daily newspaper, or organizations for protection of children, are entitled to react with a complaint.

Press Council, in that sense, cannot react on contentious media releases, such as publishing of a photograph showing the face of a boy beaten to death from Becej on the front page of the daily Blic, until a complaint is filed, said the Secretary General of the Press Council Gordana Novakovic yesterday.

The Press Council Commission for Complaints is not competent to launch proceedings for the breach of the Serbian Journalists' Code on its own. The complaint must be filed by an injured party", Novakovic said.

The contentious photograph was published on the front page of the daily without any warning and consent of dead boy's family. Also problematic, according to Novakovic, is the headline explicitly stating that the boy has been murdered by another minor, which may be regarded as a violation of presumtion of innocence.

Media and journalists' associations claim that the Code of Ethics has been violated. They stated that journalists were obliged to care for the respect of the Code and to warn their interlocutors that something was in direct breach of the journalistic ethics if published.