prijava
SARAJEVO, June 10 (FENA) - One of the possible reasons for the attacks on journalists is the decline in public confidence in the media since, according to the research done in BiH, 50 percent of citizens do not trust the media, it was pointed out today at the conference "Attacks on Media Freedoms" in Sarajevo organized by the OSCE Mission and the Embassy of Sweden in BiH.
The participants of the conference noted that citizens choose media that have the latest information, that provide the opportunity to comment and those that reflect their already established views and opinions, which means that the professionalism of the media is not in the focus of the public.
Ambassador of Sweden to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johanna Strömquist, said that her country was concerned about a global trend indicating an increasing number of threats against journalists and media freedoms.
"Such threats deter journalists from doing their important job, which is one of the pillars of democracy," Strömquist said.
She added that she is also concerned about the global growth of the spread of misinformation that deceives the public, which is why it is important to support the freedom of the media so that citizens have accurate and reliable information, especially in times of crisis.
Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalec, emphasized that in the past three years, there have been about 30 attacks on the media representatives in a year in BiH, and that the use of defamation lawsuits as a means of intimidating journalists has been recorded as well.
She said that every incident must be thoroughly investigated and get a court epilogue in order to ensure the freedom of the media.
The conference plans to enable the exchange of experiences, and result in recommendations on how to improve media freedoms in BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
