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<P>"Soft Censorship" in Hungary and Serbia - WAN-IFRA reports</P></SPAN></FONT></SPAN>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>“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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>The </FONT><A href="http://www.wan-ifra.org/articles/2014/01/28/press-freedom-under-threat-from-soft-censorship-report"><FONT color=#0000ff size=3>full versions</FONT></A><FONT size=3> can be downloaded from WAN-IFRA website.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>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)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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