[FoME] "Soft Censorship" in Hungary and Serbia / WAN-IFRA reports

[Sofie Jannusch]

"Soft Censorship" in Hungary and Serbia - WAN-IFRA reports
 
WAN-IFRA, the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news
publishers, launched a series of reports that will investigate the
practice of soft censorship worldwide. The first two reports, focus on
such practices in Serbia and Hungary.
 
“Soft Censorship: Strangling Serbia’s Media” and “Capturing Them
Softly: Soft Censorship and State Capture in the Hungarian Media”
identify major trends and abuses, such as the biased allocation of
government subsidies and advertising, evaluate their impact, and propose
recommendations. The findings aim to contribute to the implementation of
fair and transparent rules necessary for the development of independent
media sectors.
 
The full versions
(
http://www.wan-ifra.org/articles/2014/01/28/press-freedom-under-threat-from-soft-censorship-report)
 can be downloaded from WAN-IFRA website.
 
The Serbian report, produced by WAN-IFRA and the Center for
International Media Assistance (CIMA), in cooperation with the Balkan
Investigative Reporting Network, shows that soft censorship in Serbia is
pervasive and translates state financial power through media subsidies
and advertising placements into political pressures that influence media
content.
 
The report also shows that implementation of laws and regulations
proposed in 2011 that could end soft censorship has been delayed, and
the laws may be diluted or discarded.  It calls for immediate
implementation of these laws. “Adopting the Media Strategy and related
proposals will ensure that Serbia’s media serves society as a whole, not
only partisan and special interests,” the report says.
 
The Hungarian report, produced by WAN-IFRA and CIMA in cooperation with
Mérték Media Monitor, concludes that State influence over Hungarian
media is unfolding “slowly but surely” and has accelerated under the
current government, which provides state advertising to reward friendly
media and denies it to punish critical news outlets.
 
The study calls for implementation of a system of transparent
procurement for all state advertising and the establishment of an
independent body to administer and monitor all state funding to media.
 
The report also draws attention to the subversion of public-service
media, which are being transformed into government mouthpieces. It calls
for the government to ensure that Hungarian laws and practices conform
to European regulations designed to safeguard the integrity of public
service media.
 
WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with
subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the
world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000
publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than
120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom,
quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of
prosperous businesses. (WAN-IFRA)
 
 
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